Amnesia
by Irene Claire
Summary: During a joint drug bust gone wrong with the DEA, Steve is briefly kidnapped by the drug cartel. Escaping into the Hawaiian jungle but suffering from amnesia, he and Danny eventually take the cartel down. Some joint whumpage ensues.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Summary: Sorry for the stupid title to the story – not very creative of me! What can I say. With luck, the story will be much better. But be forewarned, the muse will take it along at will …**

**During a joint drug bust gone wrong with the DEA, Steve is kidnapped by the drug cartel. Escaping into the Hawaiian jungle but suffering from amnesia, he and Danny eventually take the cartel down. **

*** Joe Cano is a new character – a DEA Agent – introduced in my little story called "A Birthday to Remember." He's back in his most annoying way!**

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter One**

Danny was standing with his hands held high in the hot humid jungle – sweat was pouring down his back and mosquitoes were droning in his ears. He'd been hiking alone for over six full hours and he had also just found Steve after two weeks of endless searching – but he didn't dare breathe, let alone move.

To say he was surprised was an understatement. The only thing he could come up with when he stumbled over his friend and his alarming physical condition was,"_Easy Steve_. _It's only me._" Which sounded ridiculous even to his own ears.

On his own for the weekend, he had decided to check up on an obscure lead that he and Chin had uncovered just the day before. The elderly owner of an old back-road village convenience mart had possibly seen someone meeting Steve's description. Fading into the jungle, the scruffy and possibly injured man could have been Steve McGarrett, but he wasn't entirely sure. With another joint raid planned with the DEA for Monday morning, Chin had thought the foray into the jungle to be a total waste of time.

But Danny was annoyed with the DEA for other reasons, the major one being that Agent Joe Cano was involved; the man was an absolute idiot running ram shod over his peers and the public in general. He saw no reason to willingly partner again with the man or hold off on other potential leads in the meantime. So with nothing to lose and everything to gain, Danny had decided to investigate the old man's clues.

Packing enough hiking gear, food, water and a first aid kit that would make McGarret proud, Danny had taken off on his own for the day but was prepared to camp out for a week. And now he replayed Chin's disapproving words in his head as he stood stock still in front of an obviously addled McGarrett. "_Waste of time Danny. He's not going to be out there, brah_."

Breathing out slowly as he faced an angry, confused and well-armed Navy Seal, he muttered to himself. "Not so much after all Chin."

After such a long time of fruitless searches based on a series of false leads, Danny simply needed to _**try**_. Steve had disappeared during a botched drug bust held in conjunction with the DEA and Joe Cano's esteemed team. Danny had begun to call the DEA the "Land of Misfit Toys" in private. It seemed lately, that anything they touched was instantly contaminated and that no one had a home for them.

To that end, the proposed raid was a total mess and a side explosion in the old warehouse from drug paraphernalia had been an unforeseen distraction. No one had realized Steve was near the point of explosion and then actually missing until it was much too late.

Sweeps of the property had come up empty and just a few hours later; the demands had come in from the cartel. The DEA was to release their boss '_or else_'. However, that simply wasn't the way the State, the DEA or even Five-0 worked - there would be no negotiations of hostages and no release of a federal prisoner. Period. Regardless of whom it was and the head of Five-0 was no exception. And Cano's handling of the cartel's demands was shockingly inept.

Now appalled by the sight before him, Danny's eyes were wide as he stood unmoving in the blazing heat.

"Uh, Steve?" he tried again, but his partner or the guy who used to be his partner – continued to aim the gun unwaveringly and directly at his head.

"You're a mess, buddy." Danny said quietly and in his best non-threatening voice. Filthy, battered and bruised, Steve had lost about ten pounds and was clearly on high alert. The most disturbing bruises and healing cuts were around his face and head - now paling to light greens and yellows. From the explosion or from the kidnappers Danny had no doubt they'd prove to be the source of his amnesia.

Hearing a branch crack behind him, Danny started forward and then couldn't help glancing over his shoulder to see three shadowed shapes moving purposefully towards them. Simultaneously, Steve reacted and switched from holding Danny at bay to swinging reactively towards the dark growth directly over his right shoulder.

"Down _**now**_". He roared, as he aimed his weapon now at a different target.

Almost stunned into inactivity, Danny hesitated briefly and then did as he was told hitting the ground hard. Covering his head with both arms as machine gun chatter went off all around him along with the deliberate echoing rounds fired from Steve's gun, he had no time to fumble in his backpack for his own weapon. Mere seconds later, he was hauled to his feet and pushed roughly in front of his friend and deeper into the jungle.

"Move. _Run_." Used to following Steve's urgent demands without question, Danny kept a firm hold of his pack and took off or rather, allowed himself to be propelled through the dense undergrowth with the sounds of sporadic gunfire following. But he only got a few yards when a jolt took him off his feet. Rolling, he landed on his stomach with a hard _oomph_ and a yelp of pain as a bullet took out his left leg. Blinking furiously, Danny lay there bewildered as the air was completely knocked out of him. But then Steve was yanking him up again and throwing an arm over his own shoulder.

Adrenalin at an all time high, the two ran on – Danny just intent on moving, but Steve with a definite goal in mind – the small and well hidden cave behind the waterfall.

Slowing to check on the progress of their pursuers, Steve didn't look at the man he was virtually carrying now through the heavy undergrowth. In fact, he didn't know why he even had bothered to stop and 'help' the guy when his enemies had snuck up on him so quickly.

Looking every bit like a hiker, Steve had been baffled when the man called out "_Steve_!" and then had tried to approach him. Laughing and seemingly very happy, the hiker's attitude instantly alarmed him and he'd pulled his gun out demanding that the stranger stay where he was. The resulting crushed and bewildered expression was equally perplexing, but Steve had been unrelenting and hadn't allowed the unknown hiker to move a muscle.

He had been unsure of what to do next with the man until the unexpected _enemies_ showed up. Something had triggered in his head – something about leaving no one behind – something about this guy being familiar – maybe even a friend. And so he had automatically grabbed the hiker up during the momentary lull in the gunfire.

He'd been avoiding the drug cartel for days now – with no memory of who he even was, Steve was living off the land and hiding deep in the jungle. He didn't even know why his _enemies_ were chasing him or who they represented. He had escaped their small enclave just two days after awakening in a cell-like shed. Only knowing that he was in dire trouble from his captors, he'd wasted no time in breaking out. But with nowhere to go and no memory of what had happened, he'd stuck to the jungle. Easily adapting, he found a natural ease in the solitude and an inherent ability to protect himself.

The guy he was dragging was small but fit, and his harsh breathing was loud as he gamely struggled on and tried to help Steve as much as possible. But he was losing a lot of blood, in obvious pain and becoming a liability.

"Keep up." Steve hissed angrily, as he readjusted the arm over his shoulder.

"Trying .. moron .. " Danny wheezed. Eyes dimming, he had questions. So many questions, but with Steve's odd behavior, they'd all have to wait.

"Where you been?" he asked lamely as they continued their aggressive push forward. "What happened to you?"

Looking down finally at the now very pale and wounded man, Steve frowned, shook his head and kept them moving forward at a vicious pace. About twenty minutes later, and pausing one last time, he looked deeply into the trees and was satisfied when he saw no one. Bending low, he pulled Danny through a small opening in the trees and between an outcropping of rocks that led behind a loudly crashing waterfall. The space behind could be classified as a cave if you used imagination. The space was big enough for three people, very damp, and had a ceiling that sloped down to end about twenty or so feet back from the torrential waters.

"You're a total mess, Steven". Danny repeated once again as he was unceremoniously dumped to the ground. But still busy making sure they hadn't been followed, Steve was jittery and on edge. Pacing, he was alternating between peering out through the sheets of water gushing down from the falls and glaring at Danny who lay panting and groaning at his feet.

"Who the hell are you?" he growled down at the hiker, who was clutching the heavily bleeding wound in his upper thigh.

"Oh god." Danny whispered as he weakly lay back heavily on the damp ground. It was dark in the cave, but not too dark to see. The sheets of water hid them quite well from anyone's prying eyes. Looking around painfully, Danny could tell that Steve had been there for quite some time. Likely for the last two weeks – the two weeks he'd been missing.

"We've been looking for you everywhere." Danny panted, and he pulled himself up with every intent of rummaging through his own backpack for the first aid kit.

"Hey." He moaned as Steve pulled it sharply from his hands. "I need to stop this bleeding."

Without responding, Steve stalked to the far side of the damp cave and dumped the entire pack's contents out onto the ground. Shaking out everything, he poked around and then organized things quickly.

Food and water on one side, med kit and then extra gear. But Danny's gun wound up in the back of his pants, as did his cell phone and badge after each was thoroughly examined. Frowning at the picture of the little girl on the cell phone, Steve looked warily at Danny and then thumbed the device entirely off.

"Steve, come on." Danny finally pleaded as he gripped his leg with both hands. "At least the med kit, buddy." Exhausted, Danny lay back again and stared at the cave's ceiling in frustration. "_Crap_." He muttered to himself as the room started to spin.

Looking to his left, he realized Steve had silently walked back and was standing over him with the med kit in hand. Crouching down, he studied Danny's pale and sweaty face and frowned in confusion but he slowly used the kit to care for Danny's leg.

"It's through. All the way." He said matter of factly, as he applied a tourniquet and then neatly packed and skillfully bandaged the wound. "Seems clean."

As he remained prone, Danny nodded his thanks and closed his eyes briefly. Addled or not, Steve was gentle and thorough as he stopped the bleeding.

"Thanks." Danny said quietly as he watched Steve's severe and unchanging expression. Their eyes then met briefly as they measured each other, one pair completely puzzled and the other holding an honest concern.

The next words were said more as a statement as he rocked back on his heels. But the confusion was now more apparent and Steve seemed to be considering the situation.

"You know me."

Nodding again, Danny whispered quietly as he gauged Steve's reactions carefully. "Yeah. We're partners. Police. Five-0 actually."

A multitude of emotions passed over Steve's dirty face as he took in the brief explanation. "Really." he said in what sounded like total disbelief.

"You're Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett. And a Seal too. Navy." Danny added, as he took every opportunity to shed as much light on Steve's background as possible.

"We were on a drug raid a few weeks back. Kono and Chin were there. Catherine is worried about you too." Sighing, Danny closed his eyes as he grimaced in pain. "We lost you."

Disgusted, he added out loud and more to himself. "Stupid freaking Joe Cano and his _stupid_ DEA team."

Blinking furiously, Danny's vision was starting to swirl and darken around the edges. Turning away Steve went back to the pile of supplies and cracked open a bottled water. Searching through the med kit for pain medication, he supported Danny's back as he wordlessly handed him the two pills and motioned for him to drink the water. He then laid him gently back down, using the empty pack as a pillow to elevate his neck and head.

"And you?" Steve prompted quietly, frowning again as if searching hard for a word that was on the tip of his tongue. But then he stammered and shook his head as he pulled out Danny's cell phone from his back packet. Turning it on, he waited for the picture of Grace to light up the screen. "No. No wait."

Facing the picture towards Danny, he tapped the screen. "Danno? What's a Danno?" Grimacing, he shook his head with an exasperated expression. "No. That can't be right."

Closing his eyes with some relief, Danny leaned back and chuckled. "Yeah, that'd it be me. That's my daughter Gracie and your Uncle Steve to her." Upset, he couldn't help mumbling to himself. "God, I can't believe we are having this conversation right now."

Feeling more tired by the minute, Danny kept his eyes closed until he felt himself fading. Snapping his eyes open in alarm, he searched Steve's face with an honest appeal.

"Anything familiar?" Danny said hopefully. "Because truthfully, Steve. I'm really tired." Voice failing and darkness starting to tug at him, Danny reached towards the hand holding the cell phone.

And slowly Steve allowed him to take it. Smiling as he looked at her image, he gave it back as he felt his hand drop pathetically on its own.

"_Grace_." He whispered softly, as he lost consciousness.

"Danno." Steve muttered to himself as if trying it on for size. Checking the man's pulse and then making sure the tourniquet was alright, he sat down cross-legged on the ground next to him.

Thumbing through the photos on the cell phone, he remained extremely quiet. One picture in particular held his attention for many minutes. Studying it closely, it was plain to see that someone else had taken it. The image included himself, this Danno and the child he now knew as Grace. The three were happily smiling and laughing together on the beach. Grace was between the two men and giggling as she held a shave ice that was dripping everywhere.

Startled by a very strong emotion, Steve couldn't take his eyes off of the picture. Looking down to Danny's face and then back to the cell phone he gasped from the shock of it.

"Danny!" Nearly dropping the phone, he did finally toss it aside to recheck Danny's pulse and sluggishly bleeding wound. As he began to remember bits and pieces, Steve's breath caught as he realized a number of things.

He was indeed Steve McGarrett, he had been missing for a number of days and the wounded man in front of him was no hiker. It was his friend, maybe his best friend and Danny had been looking for him desperately.

He still had no idea about a Joe Cano or a DEA partnership but now his friend – Danny Williams – _Danno_, was injured. They were fairly deep in the Hawaiian jungle with no cell phone signal and night was falling fast.

"Oh my god." Steve breathed out, as he rubbed his face in dismay.

Tapping his cheeks and then gently bathing his warm face with material soaked with some of the bottled water, Steve tried to rouse his friend to no avail.

"Hey, Danny. I'm sorry. God I'm so sorry." Steve choked out. "Danno, I remember."

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Notes: thanks to ALL for the great feedback! I hope you continue to like this story!**

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Two**

Walking back over to the pile of supplies he'd arranged in the corner, Steve was both elated and very worried. Danny's arrival that included a large quantity of food stuffs, supplies and equipment was a complete and much unexpected gift. Retrieving his memory was more than a relief, although he couldn't recall immediate past events.

Glancing back to Danny, he frowned and said, "How long past … is _past_? How much am I still not remembering?" Steve sighed. The last thing he absolutely remembered was he and Danny meeting Duke for an impromptu lunch. "But _when_ was that?" Shaking his head, Steve just couldn't force any other memories forward.

And now that Danny was here, that fact he'd been injured and was now unconscious was undoubtedly troublesome. Steve himself was only marginally better in fact. Exhausted and nearly starving, he'd been subsisting on both minimal sleep and the rare edible meal.

Looking over the stash, he smiled warmly and approved. "Good job, Danno." Grabbing himself a bottled water, he downed it entirely and opened a second. He then ate three of the power bars from the substantial pile. Taking two of the pain pills for himself, he'd worry about caring for his miscellaneous cuts and bruises later. But one large gash in particular which was now hidden under his worn t-shirt was badly infected and he'd have to take care of it soon.

Putting aside the large coil of rope, the impressive sheathed knife was efficiently attached to his belt and the cell phone was pocketed. Night was falling and the distant sounds of thunder could be heard even over the din of the waterfall. Steve wanted to make sure their little encampment was well fortified. While he had already laid out some traps for his pursuers, the added supplies would provide for an even more secure hideout. And even though he had his doubts, he also wanted to test the closest high point for a cell phone signal to call for help.

There were also two lightweight windbreakers that had been in the bottom of the pack. Swapping out the backpack from underneath Danny's head, Steve gently balled up one of the windbreakers. The second was draped across Danny's upper body. The subtle cold of the damp cave and the light mist from the falls had chilled him and he had begun to shiver occasionally.

Steve took a moment to again check the wound which had thankfully stopped bleeding and then dabbed at the sweaty forehead.

"Did good, Danno." As he heaved a tired sigh. "Real good." Repacking the supplies carefully and judiciously in the pack, he laid it well back in the recesses of the cave. And then knelt one more time down by Danny's side to tweak the lightweight jacket up higher to his chin. "Be right back."

Thinking twice, Steve hesitated and then pulled out Danny's gun from the back of his pants. Making sure it was loaded, he laid it by Danny's right hand along with another water bottle and the small jar of pain medicine.

"Won't be long." He whispered one last time as he quickly left the cave for his recon around the area.

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

An hour later, Steve still hadn't returned and night had fully fallen. Danny was also awake and complaining loudly when he squinted into the blackness and saw that the cave was indeed quite empty.

"Steve?" he whispered, as he struggled into a sitting position. "Damn it. I can't believe you left!" Finding his gun and the water, he frowned as he tossed aside the windbreaker and wrongly assumed he'd been abandoned by the mixed up Seal.

With great effort and using the craggy wall for support, Danny heaved himself to his feet and stood on shaky legs to lean heavily against the damp rocks. The pain in his left leg was almost bearable and he was sure any amount of walking would cause it to bleed again, but he needed to find his ailing partner.

Hobbling carefully towards the small path out of the cave, he winced and then nearly fell. "Fantastic." He muttered, as he caught himself and once again rested against the outcropping. Breathing heavily and moving at a snail's pace it took him almost fifteen minutes to come out of the concealed area by the small copse of trees. By then he was panting and dizzy from the exertion.

Hearing the thunder and seeing a flash of lightening over a ridge, he groaned sarcastically as he felt the first cold rain drops pelt his head and arms. "And now it gets better."

Unsure of which way to go and now wondering if he should have just stayed put in the cave until daylight, Danny moved down a track that he thought a crazed Navy Seal might take. But it was more than difficult with only one good leg on the wet and slippery path.

Cursing as he slipped in the darkness and fell heavily to his hands and knees, Danny gasped from the spike of pain in his leg. Sagging into a seated position onto the wet ground, he wasn't sure he could get up again and was dismayed when he felt the warm flow of blood soaking down through his pants leg.

"Steve!" he whispered harshly as he heard a noise nearby. But instead of seeing a familiar face, he was stunned when the barrel of a machine gun broke through the dense ferns directly in front of him. Scrambling backwards awkwardly he realized that he had no where to go.

Danny watched with growing apprehension as one of the drug dealers broke through the brush and grinned dangerously at him; without a word, he motioned for him to get up.

"Sorry. Can't do that." Danny replied softly, as he pointed towards his injured leg and tried to plead ignorance. Very slowly he allowed one hand to stray towards the back of his pants where he had jammed his own gun. "I was hiking and fell."

Shrugging then, the man thumbed off the safety and raised his weapon threateningly. "Really – a gun? I need help. Not a gun." Paling considerably and now wide-eyed, Danny managed to get his own weapon. Keeping it hidden, he tried to get up but slid back down to sit in an undignified heap against the base of a tree.

Holding his throbbing leg with one hand he repeated himself as he groaned in frustrated pain. "I was just hiking. I can't walk." But he was slowly readying his weapon.

Silently coming around the last bend on the narrow path, Steve paused as he heard the voice and quickly crouched down in the dense underbrush off to the side. "_Danny_?" he thought impossibly to himself. "_How could that be_?"

Sneaking forward, his heart hammered in his chest as he saw Danny crumpled on the ground near one of his _enemies_. While most of his memory had returned, Steve still couldn't remember any parts of the joint DEA raid. So he still didn't remember who the enemy was or why the men had taken him in the first place. Labeling them all as the _enemy_ was the easiest remedy to the situation.

From where he was hiding, Steve could easily see the glimmer of Danny's gun and knew that he was readying to protect himself. But the _enemy_ was doing the same. Weak and on the ground, Danny was clearly at the disadvantage with little chance of truly being able to defend himself. And if he did, the resulting gunfire would draw others. Regardless, Steve knew that he had to act and act quickly in order to save them both.

But what Steve couldn't understand was why Danny had even left the cave in the first place. Narrowing his eyes angrily, Steve didn't hesitate as he pulled out the knife and positioned it strongly in his right hand.

And as two guns swung up in tandem, he reacted instinctively. Bursting out suddenly he tackled the man, simultaneously grabbing for the gun's stock and yanking the weapon from his hands. Stabbing forward, he used his body's momentum to twist the knife directly into the man's back.

Within seconds, the drug dealer had been completely removed from the picture. Breathing hard himself, Steve grimaced as his hidden wound pulled badly across his ribs and upper back. He then glanced once towards Danny who had automatically lowered his gun in shock. Hearing the softly muttered "_Steve_?" he made a face again before slowly dragging the body into the deepest and most dense parts of the undergrowth to leave him there.

"What are doing out here?" Steve complained in Danny's ear as he rushed back. Pushing him prone, he pulled off his belt to reset the tourniquet and grimaced at the newly bleeding wound. "Idiot." He whispered.

"You left." Danny grumbled halfheartedly, as his adrenalin wore off and he limply lay flat into the wet grasses. One hand was then firmly pushed aside as he reflexively tried to stop Steve from tightening the belt too firmly above the wound. "Easy. Hurts." Danny said as he closed his eyes.

Tight-lipped and clearly annoyed, Steve didn't immediately answer him as he tried to stop the bleeding. "I was coming back. I didn't leave. I was making sure they wouldn't find us and trying to get a cell phone signal. And before you ask, no there was no signal."

Running his hands over his face and into his now rain-soaked hair, he looked down at Danny and took the gun out of his lax hand to pack it once again into the back of his own pants. "Let's get out of here." Unhappily looking around and acting more uneasy than ever before, Steve was anxious to leave the area.

Lifting his arms for help on getting up, Danny once more struggled to his feet and then pitched forward to find himself in a fireman's carry. "_**Wha**_…?" He moaned hoarsely as Steve determinedly set off back towards the cave.

"Quiet. We don't have time." Steve muttered and then ignored Danny's faint complaints about damsels in distress and various indignities. Moving carefully but efficiently, it didn't take long for Steve to get them both back. Gently laying him down so his back was against the rock wall, Steve grabbed up both jackets to drape them over Danny's soaked and badly shivering body.

And then he quickly pulled out the medical kit from where he'd stowed it in the backpack. "I still don't know what you think you were doing."

"It's bleeding again. And your as cold as ice." Tense and focused, Steve bent over Danny's injured leg fixing the tourniquet, repacking the wound and changing out bandages rapidly. "How bad's the pain? When's the last time you took the pain meds?" As the litany of complaints and questions continued Steve finally realized that he wasn't being answered.

But one look at Danny's face told him volumes and he felt a pang of concern in his chest. "Danno?" he whispered. "You with me here?"

Getting only a brief nod, Steve grunted and shook his head worriedly. The wound was slow to stop bleeding this time and Danny's face was pallid and pinched in pain. "Idiot." He whispered once again as he opened a water bottle and forced two pain pills into him.

"Thought you had left." Danny muttered defensively. Glaring at Steve, he was now aggravated with the situation as his voice started to rise as he tried to make his point. "Listen, I know you don't remember anything but we need to stick together. You can't just up and leave like that."

"No, Danny. I do remember. Mostly anyway." Steve sat down in a huff next to him up against the wall. "Grace's picture. The one with all of us on the beach. I remember all of it now."

Danny was pleased as he allowed himself to slouch back and then started to grin with total relief. "That's the best news I've heard in hours."

"I just don't remember why I'm here or what happened. Who are these people?" Remaining tense, Steve knew things had happened and he was woefully lacking on current events. "The very last thing I remember is having lunch with you and Duke."

The comment made Danny raise his eyebrows in surprise. "Lunch with _Duke_? That was more than a month ago. You lost that much time in that crazy head of yours?"

Steve first shrugged and then shook his head in defeat as Danny continued. "So you really don't remember the DEA calling and that fool Joe Cano asking for help with the cartel?" Chucking at the memory, Danny tried to remind him. "Too bad you don't remember that first meeting with Cano. You just about tore his head off!"

But then Danny sobered and was very serious as he continued. "We lost you two weeks ago in a raid at a warehouse downtown. There was an explosion and then demands started to come in about your release."

Peering up at Steve, Danny studied the old bruises and cuts on his face and neck. "Looks like you got directly in the way of that, my friend."

"I really don't remember any of it happening." But pulling up his shirt, Steve showed Danny the nasty gash along his side that went up deeply into his back. And by Danny's sharp intake of breath, he knew it looked as bad as it felt. "I think it's from a piece of metal or debris." Steve said briefly. "I'm sure it's infected."

Hearing the disgusted sigh from his partner, Steve smiled and placed the medical kit on his lap. "Feel up to helping me out with this while you fill me in on what I've been missing?"

"Too late for stitches now. And yes, it's infected." Danny was critical as he eyed the nasty gash and used bottled water and betadine to clean the worst of the badly infected, red wound. He then securely taped and bandaged its entire length after smearing on a very healthy amount of antibacterial cream.

"Done." He announced as Steve sighed in relief. The deepest part had traced upwards from under his arm almost reaching back into his shoulder blade.

Sitting back against the wall, it was Steve's turn to close his eyes. "So much better." He tiredly sighed, and then looked down as something was plunked neatly into his own lap.

"Take two please and then sleep. I can fill you in on other things later. We have time." Danny was adamant as he pushed himself up higher and hid the glimmer of pain. Steve was clearly exhausted and running on fumes. Stressed and on edge, his eyes were red-rimmed with dark circles. "Steve, I'm good. Really. I can keep watch while you get some rest."

Immediately disagreeing, Steve frowned at the suggestion and was sharply cut off. "No, stop right there." Handing him water, he gestured to the pill bottle. "Two. _**Now**_. I have a lot to fill you in on and the next raid is on for Monday. We have one full day to get ourselves back together."

Listening to the sounds of the now pounding thunder and lightening storm, Steve grudgingly agreed. Danny seemed to have warmed up and wasn't shivering as badly. But he did insist on checking the leg wound again.

"It's good. I'm okay." Softening, Danny smiled as he watched Steve down the medication and then after a few minutes finally allow his eyes to drift shut. "Good to have you back."

~_** to be continued ~**_


	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Notes: thanks to ALL for the great feedback! I hope you continue to like this story!**

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Three**

The storm lasted the entire night as Danny dozed on and off during his dedicated watch while Steve caught up on desperately needed sleep. At some point, he had even leaned over to snag the backpack and forced himself to eat and drink though he certainly didn't feel well.

Gazing blankly at the incessantly falling water, the sheets shimmered occasionally as the lightening flashed overhead and was reflected. Dully, he thought it was almost pretty – but if they were in another place and not stuck in a remote damp cave hiding from the relentless members of a major drug cartel. And if Steve had asked, Danny would have denied feeling cold or ill but the flush to his cheeks and occasional tremor would testify to the low-grade fever.

He'd also taken pain medication to stay ahead of the ache in his wounded leg but he was worried – again something else he'd not admit to Steve. Wriggling his toes to ease the uncomfortable tension in his body, he was a little alarmed to find that his left heel and half his foot felt numb. Experimentally, he had then poked the bandage above and below the wound with one finger and frowned. A small portion of his knee and lower leg also felt rubbery and dull.

"Are you kidding me?" he had whispered to himself, and had glanced once over to Steve who hadn't moved in hours. So now, staring blankly at the falls he zoned out and figured it was only the forced inactivity. But eventually his own fatigue put him to sleep.

Closer towards dawn, Steve woke with a start and rocked immediately off the cave wall to look around the slowly brightening space. It was familiar to him now but much more crowded with an additional person and added gear. That comforting feeling only made a brief smile flicker across his face.

Quietly leaning across Danny, he gently picked up the pack and was pleased to see that he'd eaten sometime during the night. His gun lay on the ground by his right hand and he'd obviously fallen asleep while drinking a bottle of water. Half full, it was now held loosely in one hand and listing to the side.

Smiling once more, Steve retrieved the bottle before it could fall entirely. Allowing Danny more time to sleep, he silently got up and peered outside. Dawn was rising and the rain had finally stopped. Happy to see nothing to be concerned with, Steve turned back into the cave and crouched down by Danny to check the bandaged leg.

But as he went to adjust the white wrapping, Danny's hand came up to stop him.

"It's fine. Leave it." Danny said hoarsely. "You look better." Clearing his throat, he motioned for the water and took a long drink. The movement and the early morning light filled the cave allowing Steve to finally get a good look at his partner

"Yeah, I might. But you sure don't." Steve said quietly when he saw the flushed features. Batting away the annoyed hand that attempted to block him, Steve felt Danny's forehead and made a face. "When did you start to feel sick?"

"I'm not sick. I said I was okay." Neatly changing the subject, Danny forced a fairly believable grin but Steve only frowned in reply. "So, do you still remember who I am partner? Or do we have to start over again."

Snorting back a sarcastic laugh, Steve shook his head and was amused. "Yes. Unfortunately I do remember who you are. Nice change of subject."

"Hmm. Thought you'd like that." Counting on his fingers, he then chuckled. "If you only remember up to our lunch with Duke, then you undoubtedly don't remember your birthday. That's a shame."

"It's not … no … did I?" Confused, Steve sat on the ground. "What's the date today? You threw me a party?"

"Not me exactly. Kono pulled it together." Sneakily, Danny added. "She sure isn't going to like to find out that you forgot about her gift."

A few puzzled expressions crossed Steve's face until he settled on being annoyed. "Nope! Not falling for it Danny!" Steve put a stern finger up in his face. "You're not winning this one and there was no party. And stop changing the subject like that."

Shrugging Danny only smiled. "I guess you'll find out." Adjusting his position, he inwardly grimaced about his numb leg – they didn't need any more problems. And it had to be only from sitting for so long. So becoming serious, he nodded towards the falls as the morning fully dawned.

"We do need to talk about this next raid. Chin's already missed my check in. But with no cell phone signal, meeting them at the rendezvous point is the only way out of here." With marked disgust Danny filled him on the DEA's project and request for Five-0's help. He then expanded on Cano's stupidity and the fact that he blamed him entirely for the botched raid and Steve's injuries.

"You were furious before this all went down but the Governor insisted that we get involved. And then Cano and you argued for hours about it. Especially about the totally unnecessary danger he would be putting everyone in if we followed his _plan_." Sarcastically stressing the word, Danny was getting worked up and Steve had to shush him.

"Fine. But he put us all in a bad position." Motioning to Steve's healing bruises and then demonstrating with two brazen fingers in the air, he reluctantly relented. "We lost you for over two weeks and you lost a month of your life!"

Leaving the words unsaid, Steve grimaced but added to himself silently, "_And now you're down and we're both still in trouble._"

"Where's the rendezvous and why?"

Nodding, Danny was very disgusted but he calmly explained objectives. "Two reasons. First being, the cartel's second in command will be dropping in quite literally to handle a large exchange on the island. He's the brother of the guy already being held by the feds. They get him now, the cartel dissolves or at least infighting begins for control. The second is that the DEA got intel you were also being held either there or near there. Our last meeting with Cano put the rendezvous for ten on Monday morning." Drawing a brief diagram in the dirt, Danny tried to estimate where and what the setup would be like.

"I came out here from a different direction. Chin and I met with this old guy who owns a convenience store more south of here. He thought he'd seen you once. I couldn't wait until Monday and so … here we are!" Demonstrating widely with both arms, Danny smiled at his success.

As he listened to the description of the layout for the remote encampment and the location, Steve nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I've been there. The intel sounds about right and it was near where I was being held. There's definitely a wide area that's big enough for a small plane to land."

Thinking for a minute he added, "It's about five clicks from here."

The slang earned him a dramatic eye roll. "Sorry Steven. I don't have my "Seal's for Dummies" manual with me this trip. Exactly how far is that?"

"Oh come on! Everyone knows what a click is Danny." Steve said with genuine surprise. "You aren't going to tell me you've never even heard the word before, are you?"

"Yes, I've heard the word used before." Crossly he added. "In the _movies_."

"Huh. Weird." Steve remarked, honestly amazed that Danny truly didn't know. "Alright. That would be about five kilometers or a little over three miles from here."

"That far?" Danny sighed and immediately thought of his injury and odd feeling in his leg. Setting his jaw firmly he nodded. "We can do this."

Breathing out a sigh, Steve motioned to Danny's injured leg and insisted on again feeling his rising fever. That only earned him yet another angry look but Danny couldn't hide the mild chilled tremble or fevered heat that was beginning to rise off him.

"Yeah it's that far. And now that you've filled me in and I might add - have changed the subject for yet a _**third**_ time, _**Daniel**_. I want to know how you're really feeling."

Seeing the determined look in his eyes, Danny hit the proverbial roof as he realized what Steve was considering.

"NO way. Absolutely not! There is no way that I'm staying here or that you're going alone!"

~_** to be continued ~**_


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Notes: and so the muse strikes again! **

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Four**

Steve stole a glance across the short distance at Danny for the hundredth time that morning as the formerly comfortable space flipped and became much too small and claustrophobic. "_Yup, definitely still pissed off._"

After ranting on for another ten minutes about the idiocy of both ideas and the need to stick together, Danny had clammed up – shut up – and then quite literally ignored Steve entirely. He was currently still sitting up against the rocky wall refusing to look at him.

"Hey, look. I'm sorry." Steve said again lamely as he threw his hands up in the air. "I was just looking for options." The pointed glare thrown his way easily said that neither was acceptable.

He winced a little as the sticky bandage under his t-shirt pulled at the infected wound. Pulling it up, he saw the oozy stain leaking through the white gauze and grimaced since it felt better but still looked bad. Ugly redness on his skin spread out from under the tape and it needed to be re-dressed.

Unable to reach the worst of it, Steve picked up the med kit and brought it over to Danny. "Uh, I hate to ask. Do you mind helping me with this again? It needs to be changed."

Moodily looking up, Danny nodded once as Steve sat down next to him trying to pull the tape and bandage off the infected slash and hissed as it got stuck.

"Just. Stop." Danny muttered shortly as he carefully peeled off the old bandages and rewashed the wound. It still looked bad – sore and red – but the antibacterial ointment was at least keeping some of the infection from getting worse.

Without a word, Danny pulled down Steve's t-shirt when he was done and leaned back with his eyes closed.

"You gonna do this silent treatment act all day?" Steve asked with a sigh. "Tell me now and I'll find myself a new cave."

Without opening an eye, Danny couldn't help the smirk that crossed his face or from voicing the sarcastically biting reply. "Yes. Go. Find yourself a new hole in the ground. I want this one. I like the waterfront view."

Unable to stop from being annoyed, he also knew it would be short-lived. Danny had his own secret that was becoming more than just a little concern now. The reality was that Steve was probably right about going alone and Danny sighed heavily.

So as he sat on the ground and vainly tried to move his injured leg and numbing foot to prove he could walk and not be a liability, Danny reluctantly grabbed for Steve's t-shirt.

In the middle of starting to silently get up and walk away to give Danny more space, Steve saw the brief flicker of worry before he could even open his mouth. "Danno?"

Pointing to his left foot and lower leg, Danny finally couldn't continue to hide his growing anxiety.

"Last night." He started and then hesitated before it all came out in a rush. "I can't feel parts of my foot or leg." Looking into Steve's face, he quickly added. "But it's probably from sitting too long."

And Steve's eyes widened as he crouched back down and began to remove the bandages. The tourniquet had been taken off long ago, so that wasn't the problem. Checking it, the wound was still clean and there were no signs of infection. "Looks good. Still pretty clean."

Moving down the leg, Danny could only nod worriedly as Steve poked and prodded certain parts of his calf and ankle. "Nothing? How much can you move it?"

Both could only look at each other as Steve continued his check and Danny could barely budge his leg or foot and still had no sensation. "No. It's numb."

Confused, Steve moved down to Danny's foot and removed his boot carefully. But it was totally beyond Steve's experience as he pulled his knife and very gently used the tip to touch the sole of Danny's foot. And while he had some minor movement, he definitely couldn't feel the point of Steve's knife as he gently pressed.

"I don't know. There's no heat or discoloration. I guess it could be just swelling."

Setting his jaw stubbornly Danny shrugged. "Or, that I've been sitting for too long. Help me up, I want to walk it out."

"Maybe that too." Steve muttered thoughtfully. "We'll try it, but I don't want the bleeding to start up again. So stand first and see how it goes."

A few minutes later, Danny was cursing loudly as his leg simply wouldn't take his weight and remained obstinately deadened. Steve was supporting more than half of him as they tried to limp around the small space.

"Let's try again later." Steve said quietly as he helped him to sit back down. Besides the new medical concerns about the gunshot wound, Steve could feel the heat beginning to roll off his sweat-soaked body. Upset and angry with himself, Danny was out of breath and pale under his flushed cheeks as he sat once again up against the wall.

"I can't believe this." He muttered flatly. "I'm not staying here and your not going alone." He added with little conviction as he smacked the ground in frustration. "We need another plan."

But Steve had no answer as he studied his hands. Finally he looked at Danny and then back to the ground as he said, "Let's be realistic. I'm not sure we have another option this time."

Glancing up to say something else, his breath caught in his throat. Danny was staring directly behind him with one hand held up for silence as his other strayed towards his gun. Crouching down and staying low, Steve immediately reacted as he got his own weapon ready and took up position across from his partner.

Shadows were flickering across the beams of sunlight hitting the water and parts of the wet rock. And they looked suspiciously human-shaped. Counting five and now hearing the low unfamiliar voices, the two knew they were in trouble in the small cave.

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

To say there was no fire fight was an understatement. As the five well-armed dealers overwhelmed the small space, Steve and Danny each got a shot off in their defense but were swarmed before any real damage could be done.

At a disadvantage, Danny's shot only nicked the shoulder of one that recovered quickly to violently wrench the gun away. He was then roughly pulled to his feet and slammed into the rock wall and held up by two of the attackers. With a gun now held to his head and a hand cruelly at his throat, he could only watch as Steve's shot cleanly took down one man and then he too was overpowered.

That brief struggle for control ended too quickly when Steve realized Danny was in trouble. He now had one hand wrapped loosely around the wrist of the one man holding him up by the throat. Choking, his eyes were beginning to close as the man laughed to get Steve's attention.

"Alright. Alright!" he yelled fearfully, as he pointed to Danny and then held up his hands in defeat. "Let him go!"

That same man who Steve quickly pegged as the small group's leader looked to each of his associates and then down angrily to the dead body. Dropping the weakly gasping Danny and leaving him to the second to deal with, he stepped aggressively forward into Steve's space and hammered him once in the stomach to bring him down to his knees.

And as he coughed harshly, the leader sneered happily.

"Welcome back Commander. Just in time for our little exchange tomorrow."

~_** to be continued ~**_


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Notes: the muse can be impatient and she makes me "brain dump" and then post - so as things happen and the story comes to life, I will do my best to listen to the muse before she has (god forbid) a 'block'. This plot bunny came on suddenly - so I'm giving in to it!**

**Thanks for enjoying!**

**And thank you again for the great feedback!**

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Five**

The forced march began immediately from the cave and back towards the cartel's small encampment. Under their stony threat, Steve was charged with lugging Danny bodily through the heavy growth. Any perceived delay, accidental slow down or change in pace was met with a strong push or shove. In trying to protect them both and keep them upright, Steve was soon growling with unconcealed anger.

Over an hour in, they'd been working together gamely but Danny was fading fast and Steve paused to reset his arm over his shoulder and to take a firmer hold on his belt.

Lifting and shifting his weight, he felt the nasty tear in his side and muffled his own painful intake of breath.

"Come on. Let's go." He whispered urgently as he ignored the subtle head shake and softly voiced refusal of "_can't_."

Feeling the weary shudder through Danny's body, he glared dangerously at the man who was threateningly brandishing a rifle and forcing them to walk on. Grimly moving, they went on for a few more minutes until Danny simply stopped trying.

"He needs to rest." Steve finally blurted out to Sanchez, the definite leader of the group, and hoped he'd get the reprieve since the drug runners seemed to be equally running out of steam. With his own wound acting up and the sweat pouring down his back, Steve was also beginning to feel the strain as he picked up more and more of Danny's weight.

For Steve's benefit, Sanchez arrogantly turned away from them as if ignoring the demand but then finally motioned for them all to take a break.

Carefully lowering him to the ground, Steve grimaced as he felt the heat rolling off Danny in waves. The exertion plus the hot humidity wasn't doing him any favors and he was becoming dehydrated. Taking another chance, Steve slowly got to his feet and asked for the backpack and water. Hesitating briefly and looking first to Sanchez for approval, the man carrying it finally allowed Steve to take out two bottled waters and the pain medicine.

"This wasn't exactly …. the other option … I had in mind." Danny managed to stutter out with a glimmer of a smile that faded quickly. Wordlessly, Steve gritted his teeth in anger as he kept one eye on Sanchez and raised Danny enough to get two pills into him plus a good amount of the water.

"Steve?" Danny whispered worriedly as he saw the rage surface. "No faces."

For the most part, Sanchez and the three remaining drug runners were loosely spread out and relaxing in the shade. Only one was continuing to watch both Steve and Danny, but feeling they were a limited threat his own attention was drifting as he took part in some of the casual conversation. But Steve was sure that he'd seen something in the shadows.

"Don't have one." He replied distractedly as he glanced around the small clearing again and then deeply back into the green of the jungle as if searching for something. Positive that he had seen movement out of the corner of his eye, he searched the area closely.

Exhausted and reserves gone, Danny was desperate to stop the Seal's tendency to go off the charts as he blearily studied Steve's newly determined face.

"Beg to differ babe." Closing his eyes in fatigue, Danny shook his head and muttered miserably. "I don't like this _face_ and now is definitely not the time."

Taking a deep breath, he did his best glare and felt like he failed when Steve didn't immediately reply. "Please_** don't**_ do anything stupid."

"Shhh." Steve said as he looked down briefly and squeezed Danny's arm reassuringly. "Someone's here."

And then he saw it again and was sure. The flash of a dark body moving low but rapidly through the jungle and then another right behind the first moving with purpose.

Recognizing the second slim and agile shape, Steve happily stifled a grin as he looked down at a confused Danny and whispered softly.

"Guess who it is."

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

By the time Danny had missed his second scheduled call in late on Saturday, Chin had packed his own bags to leave as early as possible on Sunday morning. Ready to go before the sun had started to come up, Chin apologized as he reached out to Kono with the plans to follow the hiking path originally mapped out.

Yawning as the call woke her from a sound sleep, she was at first annoyed as she dragged her alarm clock closer to the bed. "You've got to be kidding me." Kono had complained loudly. "Danny? He went … _where_?"

"I know. I know. But I'm going out now. I don't want to wait another full day in case something went wrong. Once I catch up with him, we'll be back in time for the Monday meet up with the DEA."

In the background, Chin smiled as he heard the signs of Kono pulling clothes out of drawers and then keys as she got ready to leave the house. "And now you're coming with me?"

With a soft laugh, Kono laughed as she jogged to her car. "You bet, cuz. Let's go find our favorite Haole .. and then the boss." Adding it softly under her breath, after more than two full weeks she totally understood why Danny had tried out the obscure lead.

And a good many hours later, their paths had inadvertently intersected with Danny. But hitting the ground and ducking for cover, Kono and Chin were shocked by what was happening.

Struggling through the jungle, Steve was virtually carrying an obviously injured Danny and the two were surrounded by four heavily armed men. Resorting to hand signals, each pulled out their weapons as they concealed themselves in the underbrush to bide their time.

Tracking them at a safe distance, the opportunity presented itself about thirty minutes later and as the group took a break. Silently Kono followed Chin around the small clearing to better their line of sight.

"Now or never." Chin whispered, as he tried to catch Steve's eye and then started to grin as he realized Steve already knew about their approach.

Bending down to Danny, Steve gently shook him awake from his light doze and was very soft as he murmured instructions. "Hey, stay down okay? It's going to get loud in a minute."

Squeezing his arm one last time, Steve slowly got to his feet and approached the lone drug dealer sitting off to the side with their backpack. Indicating that he only wanted to put the small pill bottle back in the bag, Steve knelt down and readied himself.

Seconds later and as Chin and Kono opened fire on the unsuspecting Sanchez and the two other gunmen; Steve had simultaneously tackled and was battling the remaining man. Caught off guard, he still managed to connect a few times with Steve's wounded chest. But flipping him over, Steve ignored the flare of pain to grapple for and finally win the weapon. At close range, he intentionally used the man's own struggling weight to pull the trigger just as Chin came running up to intervene.

Helping Steve to his feet, Chin was smiling broadly as he switched to holding Steve's shoulder warmly.

"Look what we have here!" he exclaimed loudly and gave him a friendly shake. "So Danny did find you after all."

"I have never been so happy to see two people in my entire life." Steve gasped out as he wrapped one arm around his middle and returned Chin's very relieved smile. Looking down, he could see that the fight had opened up the gash in his side and it was now bleeding freely, but he was already moving towards Kono and Danny.

Gently brushing hair off his hot face, Kono was trying to explain why she and Chin were there and how they had found them.

And as Steve and Chin both dropped down too, she was laughing quietly. "No it doesn't matter. The point is we're here now."

"I told you I didn't have a face." Steve said jokingly to Danny who gratefully smiled back to Kono.

"He's impossible … you know." Danny stated quietly to her as his eyes drifted shut. Knowing now that they were really safe, he couldn't fight the exhaustion and gave in entirely.

Worried, Kono looked to Steve as she felt Danny's fevered face and motioned to his wounded leg. "What happened? And where have **you** been?"

And as she saw Steve cradling his ribcage, she pulled his arm away to see the wet t-shirt. "You too? Why are you bleeding? You're both a mess!" Kono complained as she went searching through supplies for a medical kit.

"We've had a rough couple of days." Steve replied sourly, as he ran his free hand over his face and into his hair. "How long did it take for you two hike out here?" Getting to the point, Steve wanted Danny out of the jungle and as soon as possible.

"No." Chin laughed as he went through his own gear to pull out a satellite phone that he wagged in front of Steve. "No need. It was easy enough to figure out why Danny hadn't called. We can get a Medivac in here and get both of you out now."

Amazed by the astounding change of luck, Steve rocked back onto his heels and then sat down with a thump in the tall grass as his hands splayed loosely across his knees.

And as he looked across the clearing at the downed gunmen, Sanchez's twisted body and then to Chin as he contacted Tripler, he found himself suddenly staring into Kono's equally happy face as she held up another first aid kit.

He was totally speechless as he started to smile and then began to laugh with genuine relief.

~_** to be continued ~**_


	6. Chapter 6

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Notes: FRIDAY: Thank you again for the great feedback! Okay – the muse says the Yankees are playing, so I'm must write. And then they promise to win. So here comes bad guy Agent Cano who reports to Girardi. We've had 3 homers in a row – so it must be working: thank you Swish, Granderson and Martin. LOL!**

**SUNDAY: And then I went to a horse show on Saturday – and I didn't write – and so they LOST. I will be writing Chapter 7 tonight. Let's see if this theory works.**

**Here is Chapter 6 though – please enjoy. **

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Six**

Muddled sounds and whispers came back to Danny first, along then with an uncomfortable and itchy band of something that felt heavy on his face and across his cheeks. He could also make out and almost feel a very loud staccato _whump_ _whump_ _whump_ but didn't yet recognize it as the Army Medivac chopper from Tripler. As he tried to figure it all out, his eyes sprung open in alarm when felt his body dizzily being lifted upwards. Startled and unable to see around him completely, he flailed his arms at the odd sensation of being out of control.

"Easy. Easy." A strange voice soothed as he gasped and then tried to sit up. But restrained on the board, he didn't understand what was happening and he only struggled more to try and move. Within seconds, Steve had pushed his way past one of the Army medical technicians as they lifted and carried Danny to the waiting helicopter.

Adjusting the oxygen mask as they briskly walked Steve then put one hand firmly on his chest. "Stay down and relax, okay. We're getting out of here." And then Danny finally calmed as his tired mind caught up to what was happening.

"Welcome back by the way. You've been sleeping on the job again." Steve gave a short but worried laugh as they all piled into the waiting chopper. He was unable to hide his relief that Danny was finally awake again. With the heat still pouring off him from the day's exertions and feverish, Danny had only muttered unintelligibly and grown restless when Kono had tried to rouse him before the Medivac had arrived. "We're on the way to Tripler." He explained.

Leaning over Steve's shoulder, Kono beamed down at him as she caught his eye. "How are you doing, Danny? We're getting out of here in style." she said brightly and then looked towards the medical technicians in askance.

"Heat exhaustion." One of the technicians confirmed as he upped Danny's oxygen and adjusted the badly needed fluids. A few cold packs were also broken out and placed strategically around him on the board. Meaning that Danny's return to consciousness was a good sign based on the oxygen and quick fluids, the technician smiled to the worried team. "He's responding well already."

The second technician had been focusing on Danny's leg wound and was pleased to find it relatively clean with any bleeding already under control. But he listened quietly and patiently as Steve explained what Danny's had said about his limited sense of sensation and feeling.

"Sir?" He asked Danny who had started to doze again. "Please let me know if you feel anything." Taking notes as Danny either did or didn't respond the technician thanked him and sat back for the final minutes of their flight. "You have a good digital pulse in your ankle and no obvious circulation problems. Plus the wound is quite clean. But the doctors will be able to shed more light once they can run more tests."

Not liking the vague words, Danny couldn't hide the fleeting look of anxiety that passed across his face.

"Hey. It's more good than bad, D." Steve quietly said and only for Danny's ears.

Letting out a sigh, Danny nodded and then tiredly once again drifted for a moment. But he snapped his eyes open when he realized there was a large, blurry red stain on Steve's t-shirt. Blinking furiously to clear his vision, he finally made out the heavily blood-stained shirt and the fact that Steve's arm was wrapped tightly around his middle.

Pointing and then grabbing a small piece of the fabric between two fingers he frowned and his voice was low from under the oxygen mask. "What happened ... wasn't bleeding this bad before."

He was clearly annoyed until one of the Army Medivac technicians looked first to Danny and patted his arm. Getting up, he then physically pushed Steve into a seated position as he proceeded to pull Steve's arm away in order to cut off his shirt.

"No worries, sir. He's next." Steve allowed himself to be pushed back next to Chin, but made a face and had to force himself to sit quietly as the t-shirt came away, followed by the blood soaked bandages.

"It's fine. Just got a little banged up when Chin and Kono got here. It's only a scratch."

"It's not a scratch, Steve." Kono remarked drily. Unsure of what to do before the Medivac arrived, she'd only packed the wound with fresh bandages to try and stop the bleeding. But it was deep, and the angry red marks from the infection proved that it was undoubtedly painful.

Agreeing with her completely, Steve's offhand remarks were interrupted by the disgusted medical technician. "Uh, sir. _**No**_. This is badly infected and quite deep actually."

Grasping Steve's arm firmly, he soon had an IV running fluids, was taking his temperature and recording a multitude of notes. And as the technician lifted his arm and probed the hot angry wound as it led under his arm and into his back muscle, Steve sucked in a harsh pained breath.

"This is going to need particular care back at the hospital, sir. Definitely debridement and a strong course of antibiotics. Make sure there's no muscle damage." Poking and prodding as gently as possible, the technician added notes to his chart. "Your temperature is also elevated."

And as Danny could only offer a satisfied and self serving grunt under the oxygen mask, Steve glared at him as he flinched away from a particularly painful poke from the medical technician. "Happy now?"

"Yup. Very." Danny muttered in a raspy voice as he watched the technician work on his resentful partner. "You _**are**_ so impossible."

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

Kono was surprised to see her cousin stalking angrily into the hospital waiting room. For one, Chin almost never lost his temper. She could count on the fingers of one hand the few times he had ever been truly angry in her presence and those times were relatively mild – more like _annoyed_. And secondly, he absolutely never _**ever**_ stalked.

Before she could ask him what had happened, he practically pushed his cell phone into her face as he furiously cussed out Joe Cano.

"He hung up!" Chin was loud, and she had to shush him. "I got as far as saying we were here and that Danny had been injured, and the idiot blew a gasket. He's more concerned about the raid tomorrow than anyone's well-being."

Chin had gone outside the hospital to call Cano in order to either alter the plan of action to cancel and even postpone the second raid based on what had happened over the weekend that included McGarrett's own rescue of sorts. Only able to get as far as "_our team is currently at Tripler. Danny's been admitted", _Cano had become immediately argumentative; interrupting Chin on the phone, he'd escalated and taken over the conversation with complaints of incompetence and intentional Five-0 avoidance set to ruin the mission based on their own private agenda.

Unable to stop his own tirade, Chin was still upset as he tried to describe what Cano had said. And again Kono found herself shushing him as he threw his hands up in the air and walked in an agitated tight circle.

"_Agenda_? And incompetence? Where's that coming from? He's on his way over. What does he think he's going to do? Confront Danny?" Chin was both protective of his team and highly insulted by the surprising _conversation_.

Danny had taken over Steve's role with the DEA after Steve had come up missing so many weeks ago. Working directly with Cano's team, he had been the main conduit to agree, argue and persuade tactics from both the Governor and the Five-0's camp. The two had barely gotten along with Danny's grudge now not only against the man for first scaring Grace in the hospital but also for Steve's disappearance during the botched raid.

The short-term truce was enough to set the stage for conducting the next raid on the cartel's hidden encampment. While Five-0's primary goal was originally McGarrett's retrieval, the DEA was strictly going after the cartel's second in command – the brother of the primary boss that was already incarcerated. Scheduled to arrive by plane later on Monday and directly to the obscure location to conduct a major drug and gun deal, Danny had diligently worked and then reworked the plans over and over again with Cano to ensure everyone's safety. Any _problems_ were escalated right up to Cano's boss, Girardi who was more responsive than the others.

Kono looked at Chin in disbelief. "He's on his way here? Now?" Thinking back to the many months ago when Danny had been admitted to Tripler, she recalled the issues with Cano that began with Steve bodily throwing him out of Danny's room for upsetting the ill man and scaring Grace half to death. On the side of Five-0, Doctor Ramirez had him subsequently escorted off hospital grounds with instructions never to return. Cano was insensitive and arrogant; and the Five-0 team shared the common kindred spirit to dislike the man entirely.

"He must be suicidal." Kono gloated quietly. Standing and putting her arm over his shoulder, she smiled and then found herself laughing.

"No. I wouldn't worry too much about him showing up. He's not going to make it through the front door. And if he does …" Letting the comment and subtle threat trail off, she finally got a smile out of her cousin.

And then both turned as their favorite doctor at Tripler, Doctor Ramirez made his way over to update them on both Steve's and Danny's medical conditions.

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

Moving to the doctor's private office, Doctor Ramirez brought Chin and Kono up to speed on Danny's condition first. While serious and already admitted to a private room, he wasn't in any particular danger and would be prepped for surgery once he had overcome the effects of heat exhaustion and his vitals had been stabilized.

"Surgery?" Kono's eyes grew wide in alarm at the news of a necessary operation. "What for?"

"He'll be fine." Ramirez gently explained. "But the issue with the lack of feeling in his foot and leg is stemming from small tears in an arterial wall. While the bullet did go through fairly cleanly, it travelled very close to his femoral artery. That was nicked and damaged enough to partially affect the circulation within the leg. It's a misleading injury since the digital pulse is strong, but the MRI was conclusive."

And at Kono's confused and worried intake of breath and Chin's worriedly muttered "_terrific_", he was quick to explain more. "We have the best vascular surgeon reviewing his case and caring for him now. It's a matter of patching up the small tears and then he'll be right as rain."

Ramirez genuinely liked the Five-0 team and had immediately gone up to the roof-top heliport when both injured members were brought in just a few hours earlier. Surprised to hear that Steve and Danny were involved in an unknown incident, he had taken charge of both cases to ensure they were handled swiftly and with the utmost care.

Continuing, he said, "He'll need to stay in the hospital for a few days. As I said, he's being treated for heat exhaustion and I'd like to see his vitals stabilized. Once we get him over this hump, we'll schedule the surgery. Other than this, he should have a normal recuperation without incident."

"And as far as your Commander McGarrett goes … we're looking to schedule him for a surgical debridement of that nasty wound. It needs to be done as soon as possible." Ramirez was clearly adamant as he stressed the urgency of caring for the infection. "It's badly infected and we need to clean it up thoroughly to remove any foreign materials, plus dead or damaged tissues."

"So _**both**_ need surgery?" It was Chin's turn to be surprised. "That's not what I expected. I guess we didn't realize that it was as bad as you're saying. Steve hadn't actually complained much about it. "

Chin grinned and almost laughed when Kono snorted sarcastically. "You didn't really expect him to say something, did you? "

"Yes. Well." Ramirez stated with a smile. "I guess he wouldn't .. would he." When he met the Medivac on the roof, Steve was visibly haggard but was on his feet and trying to help the medical technicians with Danny.

At the time Ramirez hadn't even realized the extent of Steve's injury until he'd reviewed the technicians' notes and then had cut the temporary bandages off himself to get a good look in the trauma room. Raw, hot and very painful, Steve hadn't uttered a word of protest about the obvious discomfort related to the deep slashing wound.

But as he thumbed through his patient's charts and notes, he explained seriously. "The debridement is fairly standard and he'll be sore. It's typically an out-patient procedure, but it's not looking like we can do it this evening." Pausing once more to check his notes, Ramirez nodded to himself. "Yes. The Commander will be admitted tonight and we'll start a course of antibiotics and fluids. We will handle this tomorrow."

Standing from behind his desk, Ramirez escorted them out of his office and towards the trauma areas. "If you'd like, you can see Steve now in trauma room two and stay with him until we've admitted him."

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

Ramirez was in his office with Chin and Kono, while DEA Agent Joe Cano was storming his way into the trauma area and loudly demanding to see Detective Danny Williams. Yanking his credentials out of his pocket, he held them high as if they'd validate his right to disrupt the critical work in the emergency room, staff and all of its patients.

Seasoned and unflinching, the head nurse came around the stations' counter to snatch the credentials from his hand and then tossed them belligerently over her shoulder without a second glance.

"Out. _**Now**_." She demanded loudly. "Frankly, I don't care who you think you are."

But brushing past her rudely, Cano started to look behind curtains and open doors. "Where is he? Danny Williams. I want to see him now."

Hands on hips, the nurse's eyes flashed in anger as she wasted no time briskly walking back to page security.

It was a mistake when the one door he decided to open led directly to Steve's own trauma area. Sitting quietly and alone on the edge of a gurney, Steve had been impatiently waiting for word on his partner and for Doctor Ramirez to find out if his own surgical procedure would be scheduled for that day or the next.

Cocking his head towards the argumentative noises in the hallway, Steve reacted immediately when he finally heard Danny's name clearly being shouted out by an outraged male voice. Standing gingerly, he held one arm protectively across the bandaged gash only to come face to face with the hostile agent as they simultaneously reached the same doorway.

"Cano?" Steve ground out with obvious distaste. "Who let you in here?"

Paling, Cano took one step back and then held his ground as he squared his shoulders and stood taller. But his voice was stammering nervously in his shock to see Steve standing before him.

"Commander. What are you doing here? I thought …"

"You shouldn't." Steve said with contempt. Towering over the agent, his eyes were dark and he was unrelenting. "Why are you _here_? What do you want with Danny?"

Clearing his throat uneasily, Cano started to justify his intrusion just as security arrived with the head nurse indicating the agent as the clear aggressor.

"Everything alright?" One of the guards asked as the head nurse pushed aggressively through to now stand near Steve.

"No. It's not alright." Pointing to Cano, she slammed her finger hard into his chest and he winced. "You're leaving. I don't know, nor do I care, what your business is. But it won't be conducted here."

Crossing his arms behind the furious nurse, Steve smiled smugly. "Well, it seems that once again … you need to go."

But then he added quietly to make a definite point. "You'll speak to Chin about the status of the plans for tomorrow. But right now Danny's injured, Cano."

"And Detective Williams is resting quietly at the moment. I will not have him disturbed while he's within the walls of this much esteemed medical facility." Ramirez's firm and deep voice resonated across the tense group as he strode purposefully into the trauma room flanked by both Chin and Kono. Motioning to Steve to return to his seated position on the gurney, Ramirez frowned at him disapprovingly for having moved from the bed.

He then turned to address Cano directly and spread his arms out wide to take in the incredulity of Cano's mere existence. "_**Mister**_ Cano. I clearly recall asking you not to show your face here. And yet, you're back. Again."

Raising his voice, Ramirez's next words were biting and sarcastic. "And .. _**AND**_ .. you have this incredible gall to demand – _**demand**_ - to see the one man you've put at risk in the past."

Glancing towards each security guard, he indicated that they should escort him from the grounds. "Good bye, Mister Cano. Keep in mind that there will be no next time."

Pale and without a word, Cano allowed himself to be guided from the area. As he left, Steve caught Chin's eye. "See what he needs for tomorrow. Frankly, there may be a benefit in continuing with the raid if the cartel is unaware of what went down today."

In agreement with the thought, Chin made a face as he considered it. "Makes sense if intel proves we still have an element of surprise. I'll catch up with Cano outside now in the parking lot and toss around new options."

Kono also left to go with Chin. "I'll go too and see what we can work out. I don't know what they're going to think once they find Sanchez's body and the others. But on the other hand, the cartel isn't going to admit they lost you either. And it may be too late for them to postpone their deal."

Once both were gone, Steve sighed tiredly and winced as Ramirez made him lay flat on the gurney. "He's a joy, isn't he?" Ramirez remarked. "How did Five-0 manage to get involved with the DEA again? They obviously aren't good for your teams' overall health."

Steve snorted at Ramirez's words. "You aren't kidding." He said quietly as he put one arm wearily over his eyes. "At least my memory came back when Danny showed up."

"Excuse me?" Ramirez said as he pulled Steve's arm off his eyes and stared down at him quizzically. "Memory loss?"

"_Crap_." Steve thought to himself ruefully, as Ramirez's pen light immediately came out of a pocket. "I'm fine now doc. I just lost a couple of days." He moaned in complaint as he tried unsuccessfully to distract the good doctor.

"Tell me. Everything. Right now." Ramirez demanded severely as he took a step back, crossed his arms and glared down at Steve. "You're being admitted tonight. We've scheduled your surgery for tomorrow afternoon."

And as Steve groaned with the threat, Ramirez pulled up a chair, leaned back and crossed his ankles comfortably.

"I have all night Commander. I want to know what happened. All of it."

~_** to be continued ~**_


	7. Chapter 7

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Notes: time for our Steve! thank you for the great comments on how this is coming along.  
**

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Seven**

"Hell Week was a vacation compared to this." Steve said sourly when Ramirez scheduled him for a complete round of CAT scans and a follow up with the head of neurology.

Learning that he would be admitted for the surgical debridement was one thing, but the new attention being drawn to his bout with amnesia which now warranted another specialist and its own host of tests was unexpected and maddening. Wanting to hear about Danny, Ramirez had used the request for a medical update as leverage until Steve admitted to everything about his own injuries.

Muttering about professional blackmail, Steve had been forced into an interrogation of sorts with the doctor in the trauma room and before he was admitted. "You know, it's really not right the way this place operates!" Steve had snarked back at the doctor's one-sided offer to compromise.

Ramirez's smirk and lack of reply to the Hell Week comment clearly meant he didn't care much for Steve's opinions or complaints as the man was settled into his room for the night. After being what he called _bullied_ for almost fifty-five minutes, Steve was exhausted and annoyed but also now slightly more worried about both his own injury and loss of memory. And finally in his room, the doctor still hadn't brought him up to speed on his partner's condition.

Unable to recall anything from the first raid or shed light on the explosion, the doctor could only conclude that Steve had either been hit by flying metal debris or could have been thrown sideways and backwards by the force and into something incredibly sharp. Either way, he had miraculously escaped serious muscle damage and any broken bones. Now badly infected, Ramirez had insisted that Steve lay on his stomach as he anesthetized the area locally and placed drains until the surgery could care for the larger issues. The interrogation had begun before this decision was made and continued while Ramirez expertly cleaned and inserted the small drains as a precautionary measure.

During the grilling in the trauma room, the honestly alarmed criticism of "_twenty-eight is not just a few days, Commander_" from Ramirez had the doctor giving Steve a thorough once-over around his head and neck. Pausing in caring for Steve's wound, old bumps and bruises were examined and "_tsked_" over in a disapproving way as the doctor frowned and shook his head in disgust.

But the sincere and careful exam had subsequently worried Steve so much, that he finally and hesitantly admitted the full extent of the amnesia which had been much worse before Danny had arrived.

Ramirez's stunned expression spoke volumes when Steve described a complete and total memory loss. Awakening in a small grimy shed, injured, deep in the Hawaiian rainforest, he didn't know who he was, what had happened, or anything at all from his past until particular photographs had jogged the bulk of his memory back into place.

Sheepishly, Steve admitted, "I had no idea what was going. I just reacted to get out of there and stayed on my own until Danny showed up. It actually wasn't so bad even … the cave was a nice find and kept me fairly hidden."

The aggravated huff and threatening stare didn't go unnoticed and Steve grinned over his shoulder at the doctor's reaction.

"What else?" prompted Ramirez, as he pressed for more information. "Headaches? Pain in your neck or back? I want to now about it then … and now. Can you recall anything bothering you upon returning to consciousness? And is there anything bothering you _now_?"

"No. No headaches… not now." Thinking back, Steve sighed wearily and closed his eyes as he lay on the gurney. With the painful area anesthetized and the quiet of the room, he was incredibly comfortable on his stomach and fighting hard to keep his eyes open. Other than being pestered by the well-meaning doctor and having information on Danny being withheld from him, Steve hadn't been this at ease or felt so secure in days.

Frowning he spoke slowly and carefully as he tried to dredge up the old feelings. "Back at that time when I came around … definitely then. My ears were ringing and I thought my head was going to explode. On top of it, I was nauseous and dizzy. Once I found the cave, I stayed low for the first few days."

Nodding toward his side, as Ramirez continued to work on him he indicated the nasty gash. "This was bleeding pretty bad at the time too. But all I could think of was getting out of there … which I did. I had zero medical supplies. And then according to Danny, I was on my own for almost two weeks until we managed to meet up."

"Actually, you didn't meet up. This wasn't a happy little picnic." Interjected Ramirez gruffly, as he finished with the last drain and clarified Steve's own words. "Until _he_ found _you_. If _he_ hadn't found _you_, who's to say your memory would have come back at all without that familiar push."

Exasperated with the Seal for continually not taking his injuries seriously, Ramirez raised his voice to make a point. "And you didn't have much time before this wound became septic. You were well on your way down that dangerous path I might add."

"Septic?" Steve asked in a small surprised voice as he considered that new information. Unsure of what to say he grimaced and then tried to shrug it all off once more and failed miserably.

"Well .. okay. But it's not and obviously my memory is back. So I'm fine now, doc." Steve had said wearily as he closed his eyes again and nearly winced from the verbal backlash from Ramirez.

The words had first earned him an infuriated withering look but were then followed by a prickly reply of "_not entirely_" from Ramirez. And he had immediately set the wheels in motion for the neurologist to examine Steve expertly sometime the following day or even the day after the surgical debridement. Annoyed mutterings about a possible fractured skull or worse had eventually worn Steve down more and he became slightly more agreeable and less argumentative as Ramirez scheduled time with Dr. Adler.

Now more than an hour later, Ramirez was standing over Steve as he carefully shifted in the hospital bed for the night. Even though he was cleaned up and looking much better than when he'd arrived, Steve couldn't hide the stresses of the last many days. He was thinner, worn out and haggard. And Ramirez would keep him on bed rest until both the wound and the neurological exams were firmly in his favor.

"Good. Get comfortable because you may be here just a day or two longer depending upon what Doctor Adler says after the neurological evaluations. Memory loss is nothing to brush off. And this amnesia you describe could be more than troublesome down the road if there's an injury we aren't aware of."

Propped over on his right side with pillows against his lower back to keep the drains clear, Steve was still half-heartedly complaining as Ramirez watched the activity around the bed with amusement. But his eyes were virtually closing on their own as he wearily resigned himself to the hospital stay. And as the last nurse departed, Ramirez walked closer and smiled with his clipboard firmly tucked under one arm.

"Now, it's time for my part of our little bargain. Unless of course, you're too tired and would prefer to sleep … we can also have some food brought up if you're hungry? "

Letting the question hang, Ramirez wouldn't have blamed Steve at all for being much too exhausted or for even wanting to eat. But his eyes snapped opened immediately at the doctor's words and he shifted in the bed to raise himself higher as he nodded. It was obvious that after so many hours he was extremely impatient to finally hear the update on Danny's condition.

Repeating the words he'd said earlier to Chin and Kono, Ramirez slowly watched any remaining tension leave Steve's face. Except for the similar and very surprised reaction to the scheduled vascular surgery, Steve was quiet and understood that Danny wasn't in any danger. "That's good news." He sighed loudly as he relaxed further into the pillows.

"He's been sleeping for hours at this point. His vitals have come up nicely and his temperature is near normal. You both are in desperate need of some peace and quiet."

Agreeing, Steve was more content as he battled to stay awake. "Thanks doc. _Again_." Steve said sincerely as Ramirez turned to leave.

The friendly snort and short chuckle from the doctor had Steve grinning as he finally closed his eyes and fell asleep almost immediately.

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	8. Chapter 8

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Notes: and now …. I had to do something with a brief Danno/Steve/Ramirez moment. It may not be what you expect, but it was fun. And what would EVER prevent a bored Steve from taking a walk around the hospital – at night - alone? The evil saber toothed plot bunny insisted …..**

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Eight**

Sometime during the night and more towards very early morning, Steve slowly awoke and stretched carefully, wincing as the wound tightened across his ribs and back muscles. He hadn't moved once during the entire night and was dead to the world for the occasional nurse's night check. But now, he was stiff from lying in one position and found that a trip to the room's small bathroom was becoming more than urgent.

Propping himself up using his right arm, Steve tucked his left arm against his ribs and let his legs drop to the ground as he rested against the bed in a half-seated position. Knowing he'd pay for it later with Ramirez, he removed the general fluids IV line and then the one for antibiotics carefully from the two different ports in his arm and blatantly ignored the call button.

Except for the painful tightness from the wound, Steve felt incredibly well rested and needed to stretch his legs. A quick trip to the bathroom would be just enough. Promising himself that he'd be back in the bed before he was missed, Steve rocked forward and was on his way.

When he was done and feeling even more refreshed, he couldn't help poking his head out from the doorway to peer up and down the very quiet fourth floor corridor. Two nurses were working at the distant nurse's station to the left so he decided on continuing his short walk down to the right. He could see the city lights and the early dawn through the small window at the far end of the corridor. Making that window his goal, he peeked casually into the last three rooms before turning around with every intent on returning back to his own bed. Yawning, he did a double take into the last room and was surprised to see Danny flat out and sleeping comfortably.

Making sure the nurses were still not up to his antics - which were growing by the minute - Steve side-stepped quickly into Danny's room and grinned deviously while he stood over his sleeping partner.

"_**Hey, Danno.**_" He couldn't help whispering loudly and had to bite back a chuckle. "Are you awake?"

At first Danny didn't respond except for a mild irritated squint of his eyebrows and he briefly shifted in the bed. Steve kept his smile as he reached out to lightly touch the flushed face which was now only slightly warm. Hooked up to fluids and what were also likely intravenous antibiotics, Danny looked much better than when Steve had last seen him.

Glancing over his shoulder after hearing a noise in the corridor, Steve froze and then wasn't able to help himself as he leaned forward one more time and squeezed Danny's arm. "Hey - Danno?"

Still half asleep but sensing that someone was there, Danny mumbled softly in complaint as he slowly came just a bit more awake. "No … _tired_ …guns?"

Sighing as he felt a hand on his arm, he shifted again and finally opened groggy eyes and groaned when he saw Steve's face.

"Guns." He clearly repeated a second time and grimaced as he saw Steve's smile fade. "Steve? We have to go? Are they making us go again?" he asked stupidly and then tiredly struggled to sit up. "They have guns." Searching the bedding, Danny seemed to be looking for his own weapon. "Wait. I can do it."

"No! What are you talking about?" Steve said a bit more loudly than he intended when he realized that Danny still wasn't quite there yet. "No - no. We're not going anywhere. There's no guns."

Becoming more worried at the weird conversation, Steve sat on the edge of the bed and pushed Danny back down into the pillows. "Just relax, okay. You're in the hospital. I was just wanted see how you were doing."

"Oh. You're back? Do you have my gun?" Danny muttered as his eyes drifted shut again. "When did you get back? And now it's raining." Frowning at the brief and almost nonsensical words, Steve sat confusedly next to Danny and watched him fall back into a light and restless doze.

Less than ten seconds later, Steve was hitting the call button and impatiently waiting for the on-duty nurse to show up. When she came around the corner, her eyes widened as she saw Steve now standing near Danny's bed with a shocked look on his face. But before she could question him, Steve pointed towards the bed and couldn't hide his concerned tone. "There's something wrong with him."

Walking past Steve, she checked the various monitors and IV lines all of which read normal. "What do you mean, sir? He's fine and only sleeping right now. You shouldn't be here either. Let's go back to your room."

Taking his arm firmly, the nurse attempted to guide Steve away but he remained stubbornly adamant. Refusing to budge, he shook her arm off and was almost angry.

"No. There's definitely something wrong with him. We just spoke - or tried to - and he made absolutely no sense. He acted like we were still out there. He's confused, mixed-up. He also couldn't focus on my face."

Studying Steve patiently and acknowledging his concern, she tried once more to turn him from the room and failed.

"Listen, sir." Hesitating briefly, she gave her best and most reasonable explanation. "He's just tired and it's only five in the morning. Doctor Ramirez starts rounds at eight. I'd suggest that you get back to your room. I promise that I'll make a note of this for the doctor."

At first Steve didn't know how to react; while it sounded logical and she was definitely not patronizing him, Steve was positive that something was wrong.

Sighing, he glanced once towards Danny and then resolutely pulled up the spare chair next to the bedside. Without apology, he made it clear to the nurse that he fully intended to stay.

"No. And I'd appreciate it if you'd call Ramirez now. Immediately. I insist."

But the nurse wavered in the room and she frowned as she walked back to Danny for a second time. Rechecking the equipment and his temperature all of which were still normal, she was truly thorough as she made sure and verified all of the readings.

Smoothing his blanket, she went to turn away but found herself smiling into his hazy blue eyes.

"Hello, Danny." She said quietly as her patient tried to focus on her face. The persistent whispers and activity in the room had been enough to rouse him once more from his sleep. Taking a mental note that he did seem confused and almost agitated, the nurse made a face.

"Hmm." She made the sound low in her throat as she took in the unfocused expression. Looking towards Steve, she motioned to him that Danny was awake again and he came over to stand next to her.

Rubbing his shoulder gently, she worked on getting his full attention. "Danny, can you tell me where you are?"

And for all intensive purposes, Danny did look as if he was considering the question. But his reply was hesitant. "Not sure. Who are you?"

And as he saw Steve, he groaned pitifully as he made an unhappy face about something. "Steve. You're back. Are we still in the cave? I'm so sick of this cave."

Nudging the nurse in the shoulder, Steve gave her an annoyed "_I told you so_" look and then softly answered. "Yeah. I'm here. But don't you remember I told you about the hospital?"

Anxious and tense now, Danny was already working on leveraging himself up to a sitting position and either had ignored or didn't hear Steve's question. "Okay, let's go. Sanchez is going to kill one of us. But where's my gun again?"

"Alright. Yes. I see what you mean, sir." The nurse very quietly said for Steve's ears, as they both worked on getting Danny to settle back down. "Danny, you're at Tripler and you need to stay in bed for me."

Keeping a tight hold on his shoulder, she repeated herself many times until they both felt him relax. And as soon as he ceased the weak attempts at leaving, the nurse quickly checked her notes.

"He's on a strong IV antibiotic which is a broad spectrum antibacterial agent …. he's had two, six-hour doses since being admitted." Clucking to herself and becoming quiet, she nodded as she considered different possibilities. Turning to Steve, she made a choice.

"Can I ask that you stay here for a moment? I'm calling Doctor Ramirez now. I know this sounds odd, but his confusion could be stemming from an allergic reaction to the prescribed series of antibiotics."

Almost running from the room, she gave Steve a brief apologetic look with promises that she'd be returning as soon as she made her phone calls to both doctor and pharmacy.

Taking up a post by Danny's bed, Steve kept one hand anchored firmly to his chest even though he was no longer trying to move. "This is crazy, D." He sighed quietly, as Danny didn't answer and seemed to once more doze off.

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

Steve was relieved to see Ramirez arrive within the hour and then subsequently reassured when blood tests and a chemical panel did prove that Danny was having an allergic reaction to the strong medications.

Danny had first nodded off and then had fallen into a deeper sleep seemingly peaceful until the doctor had arrived and right up until blood was taken. Waking during the new round of medical evaluations, he had been alarmed and then had become combative.

His sharp intake of breath as his arm was taken up to draw out a vial of blood was followed by a weak struggle with Danny arguing to be let go or else.

Standing behind Ramirez as the doctor gently held Danny down, Steve had almost bellowed at him in a fearful frustration as voices started to rise and another nurse tried to intervene.

"Danny. Stop it's me!" But the strong order had gotten his attention and Danny's troubled unfocused eyes had finally skittered across his own in recognition.

Ignoring the continual question or comment of "_Steve, you're back_", Steve had gotten the confused man somewhat more under control so that blood could be taken and a mild sedative injected.

"That was unexpected." Ramirez huffed out as he made the changes to Danny's chart and prescribed course of medicines. Taking Steve by the shoulder, he insisted that he leave the room while Danny slept and return to his own.

"While you are not supposed to be traipsing around the building at odd hours of the day or night, I will forgive you this one time." Ramirez waggled his finger a little less severely at Steve. But he made a deep guttural sound of objection when he realized Steve had also removed the two IV lines.

Back in his room now Steve was still very upset, on edge and extremely unwilling to be put back to bed so easily.

"Unexpected? Is that all you can say?" Pacing in his room between the bed and the door, he clearly wanted to go back down the corridor towards Danny's room.

"_Unexpected_? No … I'd say disturbing … _scary_ even. Why would you prescribe that stuff to anyone?"

Watching the man walk up and down the floor repetitively like a caged lion, Ramirez pulled up a chair and allowed Steve the time to vent before offering a reply. And in answering him, Ramirez explained the choice.

"One, it's an excellent and very effective antibiotic and side effects are honestly quite rare. But confusion and even hallucinations have been reported in some cases. Danny has no known reactions to any medications on his files, so yes _unexpected_ is a fair word."

And at Steve's disgusted glare, Ramirez opened his arms wide to offer a further example. "Secondly, you're also on it too. And I assume that you're feeling fine with no adverse reactions."

Sighing and making a startled sound about that news, Steve felt tired again as he ran his hands over his face and into his already mussed hair. "So?" He asked.

"_**So**_ …" Ramirez spelled out clearly to Steve. "This will be out of his system with no other ill side effects. We will put him on a more mild and more standard course of antibiotics and the vascular surgery is still on for later this morning … eleven I believe."

Rising from the chair, Ramirez gently steered Steve towards the bed. "And if you tell anyone that I said this, I _**will**_ deny it."

At Steve's confused and inquiring look, Ramirez confided. "I'm glad you took that little walk. He is okay and would have been fine, really. But I'm not sure anyone else would have noticed his allergy before the next scheduled dosage … and the reactions would have likely been … not life threatening, certainly … but more severe."

And as he helped Steve onto his side and checked the drains, he sighed in a friendly type of resignation. "You two are going to be the absolute death of me."

"We're really trying hard _**not**_ to be, doc." Steve quietly added with a smirk on his face. "It's just that things _happen_ …."

"Yes. And they seem to happen _**HERE**_." Checking the time and seeing that it was nearing eight in the morning, Ramirez cocked his head and then shrugged in defeat. "And now I see that it's almost time for the rest of your little entourage to arrive."

And as the words barely left his mouth, Kono strode quickly into the room with a bag of malasadas in hand. Embracing the doctor warmly from behind, she ignored his stiff and shocked expression as she gave him a huge hug.

"Hi doc! Donut?" she asked innocently, as she held up the bag.

But Ramirez could only throw his hands up in the air as he stalked out of the room.

And as Steve started to chuckle at the poor doctor's discomfort, Kono spun in place in bewilderment. "What did I say?"

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	9. Chapter 9

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Notes: ** just listening to the muse ** and she may be a bit dull today – but this is unfortunately necessary (in her opinion anyway). My apologies if it's boring …**

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Nine**

"So what are you doing here so early? Are the plans off for good with our DEA friends?" Steve asked Kono with a serious expression after both chuckled at Doctor Ramirez's embarrassed expense. But Steve willingly accepted a malasada from the offered bag with a sincere look of thanks.

Moving aside quickly as Steve's light breakfast arrived, Kono paused and waited for the nurse to leave. They both also couldn't help peering under the small plastic covers to find a bland but reasonable breakfast.

"Glad I brought these." Kono remarked dryly about the pastries when she found a hot cream of wheat-like pasty substance in one bowl. "That could be .. _interesting_."

"Hmm. No kidding." Steve said as he held up the malasada, grinned and then practically popped the whole thing into his mouth. "Mahalo!"

"Absolutely!" Kono replied happily as she took one for herself and pushed the small tray off to the side for a moment. "To answer your first question though. Yeah … "

And Kono nodded in the affirmative as she took a bite of her own pastry. "We all spoke last night. But Chin is meeting with the Governor in person right now. Long story, short … the Governor wants it postponed and has pulled our support with half of us down … so to speak." Kono sighed sadly at her choice of words. "And Chin's coming right back here when he can break free."

Finishing the small pastry, she couldn't find a napkin so wiped the few loose crumbs on her jeans; and then finished bringing Steve up to speed on what they knew so far. "Cano's going to be furious and blame it all on our secret agenda to get you back first." And she smiled as Steve made a face over the ridiculous but unfortunate truth of her statement.

Pulling the hospital tray of breakfast foods back, she pushed it in Steve's direction and indicated he should have real food as she spoke.

"After going over everything last night; we've definitely lost the element of surprise. And now intel is that the Cartel's own deal could be in jeopardy. So without more on the inside .. at this point we don't know if it's still on or canceled … or much of any value."

Finishing the thought for her, Steve added in total agreement as he opted for the small plate of fruit from the tray. "It's not worth the risk or the manpower."

"Exactly." Kono sighed as she sat on Steve's bed and smiled as he picked through the hospital's idea of breakfast. Looking closely at his face she was happy to see most of his color back and the exhausted lines significantly eased.

"You look better at least. What time is your surgery? Any updates on Danny?"

"Danny's right down the hall actually. He's still scheduled for eleven but Ramirez hasn't told me anything yet about this debridement."

Keeping _**Doctor Adler**_ to himself, Steve conveniently avoided filling her in on the pending CAT Scans and neurological tests. In fact he realized, as he stifled a small surprised sound that bubbled up from the back of his throat, only three people currently were in the know about his amnesia and all of the details around his disappearance – Danny, Ramirez and now this Doctor Adler.

Distracted by that, Steve had to bring his attention back to Kono and her enthusiastic reaction to learning that Danny was so close by. "Really!"

Kono remarked with a huge smile that then became a happy laugh. "That's perfect! I'll go see him. I'm sure he'd be happy with a some dessert for breakfast."

Grabbing up the bag of remaining malasadas, she started to leave but was stayed by Steve as he took her wrist. "Wait." He said in a soothing voice.

"Oh no." she asked softly when she saw his serious face. Sitting back down Kono was immediately troubled. "Is something wrong?

"Yes and no." Steve said admitted as he shifted on his side and tried to get comfortable. "He had a bit of an allergic reaction to his meds earlier. He's fine now, but sedated. You can probably poke your head in … but don't expect too much."

Pinching her face into a tight and concerned frown, Kono was worried. "Sedated? He was _sedated_?"

"Yeah." Huffing out a big sigh, Steve grimaced at the wounds' painful tightness and wondered when he was going to be due for his own pain medication. Hitting the button for the head of the bed, he lowered it slightly to try a different reclined angle but it wasn't much better. Trying to ignore the growing twinges of pain and uncomfortable hot feelings in his back, Steve continued to explain what had happened with Danny's allergic reaction.

"He was little confused .. _upset_ let's say. Ramirez changed his meds right away." Describing his trip down the corridor, Steve filled Kono in on the weird conversation and what had ended up happening.

Talking about Danny was easier than about himself, so Steve tried to keep the topic focused on moving down that particular path. With all that had been happening in just a few days time, neither Chin nor Kono had asked about the particulars of how or when Danny had found him. They also hadn't had the time to ask about the two week void during which Steve had been entirely on his own. The team had gone from zero to sixty in virtually one day. Preoccupied with simply having Steve back, the issues with the DEA and then the more immediate medical concerns with Danny all took precedence.

Justifying the lapse as only a minor and temporary oversight and especially more true with the raid being scrubbed, Steve figured that there was no need to worry them until he met with Doctor Adler. "_And who's to say there's anything to worry about at all, right_?" Steve thought to himself with just a small glimmer of guilt.

Understanding what she'd interrupted earlier, Kono nodded. "When I came in, you two were just getting back from seeing Danny then."

"It's only been just less than one hour since all of this went down." Steve agreed as he tried once again to re-adjust himself on his right side and ease the pressure across his ribs and up into his left shoulder. "And now he's probably going to miss breakfast too."

"Then maybe I _should_ poke my head in!" Kono said with a short laugh.

'Probably not such a bad idea." Steve smirked as he indicated the open door and couldn't hide the twinge of pain in one section of his back. Ignoring it, he smiled and then pointed in the general direction of the other room.

"He's bound to be starving by now. And I've never seen him turn down a malasada or a cocoa puff!"

But noticing Steve's constant fidgets and the flickers of pain across his face, Kono gave him a knowing look and softened "I'll go see him in a second. But your back hurts more?"

"Oh yeah." Steve admitted with a dry laugh. "Funny how actual _medical_ care makes it worse before it gets better." Disgusted with the situation, he was becoming impatient and just wanted the procedure done.

"I'm beginning to look forward to getting it taken care of." Grimacing, he held his ribs just below the wound with his right hand. "It's really kicked in this morning."

Peeking over his shoulder, Kono couldn't see much under the hospital gown and light weight bandages. She knew that it had to hurt if Steve was finally griping about it.

"Well .. it needs to be done. That's for sure." Kono said with a mild tone, but couldn't hide the concern in her eyes. "You know, it is really deep …I don't think the surgery is going to fix it just like that either."

Smiling for her benefit, Steve rolled his eyes dramatically. "Yes. So I'm told! But it'll be fine and Ramirez says that there's no muscle damage. So once they get it cleaned up, the hard part's over. Danny and I will have a few days off and we'll both be back in the office in no time."

Raising her eyebrows, Kono was surprised at the flippant remarks. "Oh? You think? Odds are that Danny will be back in the office first." Pointing towards his back, she shook her head negatively.

"I have a friend that had this done after a bad surfing accident. Her surgical debridement was no picnic. Odds are that you'll be lucky if you're back in a few _weeks_ with that wound, boss!"

"Weeks?" Steve sputtered doubtfully. "_Weeks_? There was no way he could see being down or on leave for any more than a few days. Smiling at her, he poked her shoulder playfully.

"You're on Kono! Hands down bet that I'm back in the office before Danny."

"Steve, I don't think you will be _**released**_ from the hospital before Danny." Kono said honestly as she tried to seriously talk him out of it. But her eyes were twinkling as she argued with him.

"You have no idea what your back looks like. I'd be surprised if you even felt like doing anything at all when they get done cleaning this up."

Studying her face, Steve was still intrigued by the idea of a bet and Kono's sparkling eyes matched his own. Shrugging, he repeated what he'd said.

"I bet that I am. Dinner for everyone's on me at the steak house _**IF**_ Danny's back in the office and cleared for duty before I am. And dinner's on you if I'm cleared first."

"Cleared for duty _**and**_ in the office?" Kono said specifically to make sure the details were clear. Hesitating since she knew better, she shrugged as she shook her head and then agreed.

"Okay. You're on boss. Definitely on. But get ready to pay up!"

And as they shook hands on the deal, Doctor Ramirez returned to the room with charts and clipboard in hand. A nurse was also in tow with a wheel chair and carrying badly needed pain medication which Steve gladly accepted.

"Sorry for the short notice." Dr. Ramirez began and stayed wide of Kono in case she threatened another public hug. But he had noticed and did a double-take as he caught the tail-end of the hand shake.

"But we're going to take you downstairs now." Checking his watch, Ramirez estimated. "I think you'll be back shortly after lunch. And then we can see how you're feeling and go over after-care once they assess the wound."

And as Steve slowly was helped to the waiting wheel chair, Ramirez added. "After this is done, Doctor Adler will want to schedule some time with you as well. I believe the CAT scans are tomorrow morning to avoid over-taxing you the same day."

Ignoring Kono's questioning expression; Steve tried to quickly plunk himself into the wheel chair and almost tripped as Ramirez helped untangle his legs from the sheets.

"Fine. Okay." He muttered as he glanced once in her direction and kept up a quick silly patter of conversation. "Keep an eye on Danny, Kono. I'll see you after lunch."

But putting her hands on her hips, Kono pursed her lips firmly. "Oh no you don't. Who's this Doctor Adler now?" Turning to Ramirez, he raised his eyebrows as he looked from Steve's guilty face to Kono's almost annoyed one.

"Commander? I take it you haven't filled your whole team in on the mystery of your little disappearance?" Ramirez was smirking as he shoved his hands deeply into his medical coat. "I'm not sure if I should be surprised about this. But it's hardly fair."

"You do know, doc – and I'm saying it again - I really don't like how this place operates." Steve replied bleakly as Kono waited and Ramirez challenged him to just try and stay quiet about the amnesia.

Giving Steve a brief pat on the shoulder, he spoke to Kono. "I'll be outside so our friend here has time to fill you in on his little adventure and why Doctor Adler has been called in."

Hearing the slight mutterings about blackmail and intimidation tactics, Ramirez smiled as he backed out of the room. But Steve did finally fill Kono in on everything and how Ramirez had insisted on Doctor Adler's participation.

"Wow." Kono breathed out when he was done explaining the next steps. "I agree that it's probably going to be fine. But Steve, this is really important." Giving him a quick hug, she was still unhappy with him and then couldn't help whispering in his ear.

"You do know that you just made a really _**really**_ bad bet with me, right?"

The wide eyed snort of disbelief was interrupted by Ramirez re-entering the room. "I hope we're good now?"

"Perfect." Kono said as she waved a brief good-bye to Steve as he shook his head in silent disgust. And then she thought of something else and stopped the small group. Standing in front of Steve she couldn't help asking.

"Hey boss. You don't remember your birthday party then. I don't see how you could."

Narrowing his eyes, he had no reply as a multitude of expressions crossed his face. And then it was Kono's turn to smirk and take some satisfaction in a few things.

"Just checking." She said blithely as she moved aside to allow them to pass. But she could tell he was trying to hold back his own laughter from the way his shoulders were shaking.

Turning around, she walked slowly down the corridor until she found Danny's room. As forewarned by Steve, he was sleeping and so Kono could only pull up a chair and sit quietly with him until he either woke or was also taken down for his own surgery.

Looking around the room, Kono saw that his breakfast tray was nearby and obviously untouched. "Well that's just plain stupid." Kono said out loud and with total disgust.

Sighing gloomily, she leaned forward and squeezed Danny's hand as she whispered softly. "Hey Danny. If you feel like waking up, I've got some malasadas for you."

But he only made a face in his sleep and Kono sat down to begin what would become a very long day of watching and waiting.

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	10. Chapter 10

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Notes: Yes I know about the food/surgery thing - honest I do. Part of chapter 9 was story since surgery was up in the air for Steve and Danny wasn't really going to eat anyway. So let's see if the muse can make it more acceptable. I'd like to think that anything is possible! *_Phew_* I think the WHOLE team is up to speed now! Thank you for not finding C9 totally dull and monotonous. I seem to have a need to "over explain" in this plot line. **

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Ten**

The same nurse that had answered Steve's urgent call was still on duty and tasked now with gently rousing Danny from sleep. She'd come in only about fifteen minutes after Kono had taken a somewhat comfortable seat next to his bed. Before introducing herself, she immediately frowned at the untouched breakfast tray and then pointed to the pastry bag.

"He's not supposed to eat." She said with distinct disapproval and disappeared back to the nurse's station to return shortly with a younger nurse in tow. Ignoring Kono for the moment, the nurse took the time to make a point.

"This is one of things you need to monitor closely and _**especially**_ for pre-surgical patients. Check and recheck all charts. Remove it please." And almost petrified by the stern tone, the younger nurse gave a quick nod of apology and snatched up the tray.

"Hello _Miss_?" Addressing Kono, her manner changed to be more agreeable and friendly but she hesitated slightly when she pointedly looked at the white bag.

"Kono Kalakaua with Five-0. And no, he's not had any of these." She replied quickly to avoid any issues with the perceptive nurse. But then thought guiltily of Steve's one transgression .. two if you counted the small bowl of fruit. "He's been sleeping."

Turning towards Danny and checking the monitors, she smiled warmly as she multitasked and the made notes on his chart. "It's nice to meet you Kono. I'm Ellen, the head nurse for this wing."

She kept up a serene but informative dialogue as she gently raised the head of Danny's bed and took up his hand. Kindly she started to work on waking him from his sleep as she explained to Kono what was going on.

"Well, Doctor Ramirez did give him a light sedative. But it's high time he woke up with his surgery right around the corner. I was asked to make sure he was aware and alert, or we'd have to reschedule. Dr. Strauss, the vascular surgeon will be here soon for a quick recap and then Danny will go downstairs for prep."

Directly addressing him now, Ellen raised her voice. "Danny? Time to wake up."

The almost annoyed and huffed out "_M'up_ _already with all this noise_" had her chuckling softly.

"Good. Let's start with my name and then move on to _you_ telling _me_ where you are. If you pass the test, than you're mostly golden."

As he opened his eyes, Danny couldn't help smirking up at the older nurse. She in turn, was pleased to see a much more clear and aware expression.

"I'm _always_ golden." He said cheekily and then began to complain good-naturedly. "But must you ask me this constantly?

"Yes. I must." Ellen said candidly but with a smile in her voice, and then added. "I've learned in our short time together that you're not exactly the quiet type. So let's get to it."

But then he noticed Kono standing now off to the side. Now distracted, Danny smiled widely and perked up. "Hey Kono!" Eyeing the bakery bag, he was immediately interested and gestured towards it.

"Pastries? Malasadas or cocoa puffs?" Hiding it behind her back, Kono shrugged helplessly at Ellen who frowned again at the white bag.

Pulling him back to focus on her, Ellen squeezed his hand firmly for a second time. "Nice try, buster. Now answer my questions."

Biting his tongue, Danny gave her his best radiant smile and quickly provided the right answers. "You my dear, are the lovely nurse Ellen Ramirez. And for the hundredth time, I know I'm at Tripler thanks to that bullheaded partner of mine."

Wistfully staring at the bakery bag, he frowned. "And today's surgery day isn't it?"

"Bingo!" Ellen said smartly as she took his pulse and then readied the cuff for his blood pressure. "We're back to normal on all fronts. But I gather you don't remember your little issue earlier? The Commander was quite put out by your _conversation_."

The creases across Danny's brow were deep and pronounced at the question. "I had an awful dream … _McGarrett_ was in it … "

Unable to stop the chuckle that started first in his chest, he laughed out loud at his own words. Kono couldn't help joining in and Ellen rolled her eyes but soon had to laugh as well. "Of course he was …!"

But becoming serious, Danny tried to dig up the feelings and muddy memory. "We were back in that god-awful cave. There was something or someone there .. it wasn't good." His response trailed off as he tried to remember and then simply couldn't bring it all back. "It was just a dream."

Kono's snort of objection drew Ellen's attention briefly as she smiled and shook her head to agree on the contrary.

"No, not exactly a dream. You were a bit out of it and were quite convinced that you both were back there. But you're fine now and we've taken you off the responsible medication. You had a reaction to the strong antibiotic we had you on …Steve … Commander McGarrett rightly called us in as soon as he felt something was wrong."

"So Steve _**was**_ here then?" Danny asked as Ellen nodded to confirm that part was very true. But he was still puzzled about what he'd said or done.

"Where is he now?" Realizing the day again, he rapidly changed mental course as he tried to sit up taller in the bed and then stared directly at Kono. Making a concerned face, Danny's question was at first voiced very low. "And where's Chin?"

But the rant started almost immediately from that point on as he thought Steve might be discharged from the hospital or worse - AWOL along with Chin - and his voice began to rise in alarm.

"What time is it? Who's with Cano and the DEA for the planned meet? Please tell me that they are _**not**_ out there with that idiot." Muttering about pig-headed, obstinate Seal's, Danny wanted Kono's cell phone.

"Who let that fool out of here? Give me that. I need to call him." He demanded forcefully from the bed.

Ellen stood back with a bemused smile on her face as she shook her head. "Really? Danny ... he's in surgery. No one has gone anywhere …."

But Danny wasn't paying attention to the nurse, as he held his beckoning fingers out for Kono's cell phone. "Come on. Give it up."

"Whoa! Danny!" Kono held up one hand for him to stop the angry tirade, unfortunately the one that still held the pastry bag, and embarrassedly tossed it to the empty chair behind her. Groaning loudly, she apologized to Ellen self-consciously who had once again made a face at the demonic item. "_Sorry_."

Scowling at Danny for such an over-reaction, Kono was almost threatening. "Calm down. The Governor called it off; our participation anyway. Steve's gone down to surgery and Chin will be over here soon."

Almost reluctantly, Danny's rant subsided and he slouched back down into the bed. "Good. I guess." But he was still considering the information and realized what Kono had just said.

"Steve's in surgery?" And then he added softly. "His back is messed up."

Stepping closer to the bed, Kono picked up on his worry. "Yeah, the infection is bad and he's not comfortable. Dr. Ramirez took him down about an hour ago. What's important is that you two get back on your feet. So let's just get over all of this before we worry about the DEA."

And then all three looked up as a new doctor entered the room. Introducing himself as Danny's vascular surgeon, Dr. Strauss was a short and happily rotund man that often had to hold back a quick and biting humorous streak. Polite and official, he was pleasant when he asked Kono to please wait downstairs for the remainder of the surgical time. Danny liked him immediately and was chatting amiably with him as they reviewed what Danny should expect.

Escorting her out as Doctor Strauss began to remove the small dressings on Danny's wound, Ellen promised that she'd come down herself with word on either man as anything was made known.

"I'm on a double shift today. So as long as things are wrapped up by three in the afternoon, I'll see you sometime later."

But on her way down to the main floor, Kono's brain did a stutter-step. "Ellen Ramirez .. _**Ramirez**_?"

Talking to herself about the likelihood of two Ramirez's in the same building, she almost laughed out loud when she recalled a few photographs in the doctor's office and then Ellen's confident, charming mannerisms that were so much … like … her _husband's_.

"Oh my god." She crowed in delight as she changed course for the cafeteria for the long morning ahead. "They're _married_!"

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	11. Chapter 11

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Notes: ** got nuthin'** doing what the muse demands. But always my continued appreciation to everyone who reads and/or comments. I LOVE your feedback all the time!**

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Eleven**

Breathing carefully and deeply to choke down the nausea Steve lay on his stomach with his eyes closed in the recovery ward and couldn't quite remember ever being so miserable in a hospital setting. He was resting his forehead on his right forearm while his left arm was bent next to him – tight fist almost up to his chin. He'd been given pain medicine before and after the surgical debridement and the area around the wound had been anesthetized locally, but he certainly wasn't feeling well at that exact moment in time. The antiemetic was finally kicking in and slowly Steve could feel the nausea leave and he began to relax more. But there was an uncomfortable tightness that ran the entire length of the wound and an unexplainable chill throughout his whole body. And the while wound was now immaculate and packed with clean, dry bandages, Steve himself was covered with warming blankets as he couldn't help the sporadic tremble that ran through his body.

A nurse was stationed in a chair next to his bed and taking his blood pressure continuously every fifteen minutes. She was also keeping a keen eye on the nasal cannula which the patient had a tendency to nudge off his face every so often.

"How are you feeling now?" The nurse asked softly as she sensed the slight easing of the tension in his face. The quiet "_better_" was given on an exhale without Steve opening his eyes or daring to move an inch.

A bit shocky from the procedure, his blood pressure was slowly coming back up and she nodded her approval at the current readings. But the stresses he had endured over the last few weeks were also rearing their combined heads and Steve's own body was finally screaming loudly about the abuses.

The surgery had lasted just over two very long and tedious hours. Opting first for the local anesthetic, Doctor Ramirez had strongly cautioned the Seal against the choice.

"Well yes of course it will numb the area and it is a sole option _sometimes_. But this is nothing like putting the drains in and you already have an infection. This one part on your back …" and Ramirez used his fingers to estimate a six inch length of the gash that began under Steve's arm and rounded up to end just below his left shoulder blade. ".. is very bad. We're going to spend a lot of time disinfecting, flushing and cutting away damaged tissues. While it doesn't seem large to you, trust me, it's significant."

Almost exasperated, Ramirez did his best until he simply made another choice for his patient.

"I've explained in detail what we're going to do." Pulling over the impressive tray of surgical equipment, Ramirez once again demonstrated in detail the various scalpels, forceps, scissors, and other instruments that he'd need to use to cut away the dead tissues and remove foreign matter.

"We'll begin with the lesser infected areas and I'll allow the use of only a local anesthetic as we start. But as we progress to this part here, you're going to deal with me and my option on giving you a general anesthetic."

Agreeing, Steve had lasted a good forty-five minutes into the procedure and then his blood pressure had simply started to fall. His already stressed body revolted all on its own as the added shock of the persistent cutting, clipping and probing took its toll. And as Ramirez worked his way methodically to the primary infected areas, the wound had begun to also bleed in earnest.

While bleeding had also been expected and was actually welcome; the now constant suctioning, wiping and flushing added even more strain to his already frazzled patient's system. Peering gently into Steve's pale face, Ramirez patted him on his free shoulder.

"You're doing great." And the doctor couldn't help the friendly teasing. "And yes, I'm duly impressed at your heroic ability to endure torture. But you've had enough and now I win."

And as Ramirez heard the approving grunt, he nodded towards the anesthesiologist, waited a few minutes to monitor Steve's vitals and then continued at the painstaking task of cleaning and debriding the deepest parts of the infected wound.

So now almost three hours later, Steve was in recovery and doing his best to gain back control of his mutinous body. But feverish and admittedly drained of all energy, he slowly gave up as the nausea eased and he took in the welcoming warmth that he craved from the blankets.

Focusing only now on breathing and beginning to doze, Steve didn't hear Ramirez enter the room until the nurse gave him an update on his current vitals.

"So, Steve." The doctor said. "I think we'll keep you here in recovery just a while longer until your blood pressure stabilizes. Your temperature is up a little and that's likely from both the procedure and the infection."

Sympathizing with him, Ramirez wanted to know if Steve still preferred to lie on his stomach. "Unfortunately, you have only two options right now. Stomach as you are or we can prop you up on your right side with pillows."

The softly muttered "_s'good this way_" made him smile in understanding. "Alright, but let anyone know if you want to change positions or need anything at all."

Bending closer, Ramirez offered just a bit more information that he knew Steve likely wanted to know but was almost too tired to ask.

"I'm told that Danny's surgery went very well. It actually took less than an hour and he's out of recovery and back upstairs. I'm sure that the _other_ two .." Ramirez stressed the word 'other' … "are with him. I'll be going up to let them know how you're doing. Get some rest and before you know it, we'll have you back upstairs shortly."

Opening his eyes, Steve winced a little at the brightness of the room but now a very relieved smile crossed his face.

"S' great. Mahalo, doc." He whispered softly with the smile still on his lips. Closing his eyes again he relaxed further into the blankets. "Yeah. Good news."

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

Unfortunately, there wasn't an identical relieved smile to be found on Danny's face when Ramirez informed the team about Steve's condition.

"We're still getting a handle on his vitals. But once I'm convinced he's more stable, I'll have him settled up here for the night. Plus we need to keep an eye on his temperature and closely monitor the infection. We've taken cultures to ensure that we're using the appropriate antibiotics."

Scowling, Ramirez admitted his worry over the infection that was already in his system. "The wound looks excellent for what it is. But I will need to go in again for additional irrigation and possible debridement. Keeping it clean and well irrigated will be key for his recovery."

"When can we see him?" Danny immediately asked. Almost feeling guilty about the easy outcome of his own procedure and prognosis, he frowned and shook his head.

"How much can one body take? God knows what happened to him in the explosion and then two weeks out there with practically no food and totally no medical care? I'm not surprised that he's having trouble bouncing back."

Unable to stop the rant from bubbling, Danny's eyes grew dark in anger and frustration. Pushing away his light lunch in disgust, his appetite had totally vanished. "He's lost at least ten pounds and he's worn out!"

Equally upset at how Steve pushed himself to the edge, Chin chimed in. "Is this all we can do? And what about the consult with Doctor Adler? I'm assuming that's on hold until he feels better."

Heaving a sigh, Ramirez understood that it wasn't the news they had all wanted to hear but he was uncertain about the next steps with the neurologist.

"I'll meet with Doctor Adler today or tomorrow when Steve is more stable. The amnesia was significant and is also worrisome. But there are some basic cognitive tests that are non-invasive and quite simple. I can't say more as this is Adler's specialty."

Checking the time, Ramirez excused himself. "Hopefully, the next time you see me it's to bring Steve back up here. Honestly though, I'm not sure he'll be up to any visitors this evening."

The silence in the room was oppressive as the doctor left the three. Not knowing what to say or think, they sat quietly together and hoped the next bit of news would be better.

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

Kono watched in the hallway as Steve was once again settled in the small private room. It had taken more than two hours for Ramirez to show up again. But at least Steve was now out of recovery.

Still opting to be on his stomach, the small army of nurses and attendants carefully transferred him to the bed and once again wrapped Steve in blankets. Glancing nervously back towards Danny's room, she prayed that he and Chin would just wait a few more minutes before trying the inevitable.

Catching the flash of Chin's face and dark hair, she hissed an angry "_**not yet**_" down the hall in his direction.

Ramirez and Ellen – confirmed by Kono now as the good doctor's second wife – took particular time ensuring that the IV leads were clear and dispensing their healing medicines.

But with the local anesthetic now wearing thin, flickers of pain had joined the tight stiffness of the wound and Steve occasionally winced at a new pull or unexpected sharp tingle.

After a time, Ramirez beckoned Kono into the room. "He's due for pain medication in another hour. I'd prefer that he not talk and just sleep. So please keep the visit very brief."

Walking past the doctor, Kono smiled to Ellen as she fixed the nasal cannula and pulled the blankets further up Steve's back.

"Hey boss." She softly said, as she bent over to see his face and smiled when he opened bleary eyes.

"Doc says you shouldn't talk and that you should sleep. So let me just fill you in okay? Danny's good and we're here if you need anything."

Looking around for the call button, Kono made sure he could reach it with his hand. "Here's this too for the nurses station. Don't be afraid to use it. Okay?" Listening to Kono's small talk and orders, Ellen smiled to herself and then nodded silently to Kono as she left them alone to follow Doctor Ramirez down the corridor.

Steve's tired eyes followed Ellen as far as possible, and then tracked Kono's hand to the small button and he tried to smile.

"Yup." He muttered softly as he briefly closed his eyes again. He was more than happy to be out of recovery and finally back in his own room. And he had opted to be in the same position as before – head resting on right forearm and left arm bent. Though he was sure he'd tire of being on his stomach soon, it currently felt good and kept the bulk of pressure off the painful portion of his back. But his left hand now held a fistful of the bedding which he'd grip tightly as a stabbing pain seized somewhere along the wound.

Rubbing his hot forehead on his right forearm, he sighed and then made a face as a spike stabbed into his back near his shoulder blade. "_Damn_." He breathed out with a groan and then felt a chill even though he was under so many blankets.

Expecting an "_I told you so_" from Kono, he was surprised when a warm, strong and calloused hand untangled his own that was clenched tightly in the bedding.

"You're not kidding. Your hands like ice." Opening his eyes, Steve was eye to eye with Danny who was sitting in a wheel chair. He had a silly smile on his face but couldn't entirely hide the concern in his eyes. "Do you do _anything_ in halves?"

Arguing with Chin about how or if he could make it into the wheel chair, Chin had finally given in while Kono ran interference. Once the coast was clear, Chin had guided a hopping, one-footed Danny into the chair and they had rapidly rolled down the corridor like two truant kids.

And now, Chin was kneeling next to the wheel chair and looking at Steve with an equally worried expression. "Do you need anything?" Chin whispered as he looked over his shoulder. The backwards glance made Steve frown and then he saw the wheel chair.

The realization made him smile and then he gave a soft chuckle. "Both of you are bad." He whispered, but he hung on to Danny's hand gamely as another pain rippled through his back.

"He's not supposed to be talking." Kono said harshly as she also nervously looked over her shoulder.

"Sleeping. He should be _sleeping_!" Looking down to Danny, she added. "We are so in for it if someone finds you out of bed too."

Shrugging at her warning, Danny watched Steve's face tighten and he kept a hold of his hand as he felt another tremor. Studying it more closely now and with a clear head, Danny could see the hollow cheeks, pained tension and dark smudges under his eyes.

Secretly horrified by the physical changes, Danny had to push down his rising anger. This wasn't Steve .. _ever_ .. it was totally and absolutely unacceptable. And so Danny now refused to budge as he made one final blunt and unconditional announcement.

"Well. I'm here now and I can sit in this damned chair as well as in that bed."

Not liking the coldness to Steve's hand and the blankets that were piled high against the rising fever, Danny frowned. "Not fair that you're this sick." He sighed and then failed at stifling his anger at those he directly blamed for Steve's injuries. "Stupid idiotic DEA."

The soft amused snort was muffled but undeniably from Steve and Danny could feel the total agreement as Steve squeezed his hand once.

"I knew you'd stay once you got in here." Chin remarked with a smirk as he saw the determined set to Danny's jaw. "So I guess we're all staying at this point."

Walking briskly to the doorway, Chin made sure the coast was clear and returned with the two chairs, all the pillows and the blankets from Danny's original room. "Might as well get comfortable."

"Oh boy." Kono said in defeat as she partially closed the door to the corridor and helped Chin made room for the various items. "I'm sure – no … I _know_ - I'll get blamed for this one."

But Danny wasn't paying attention to the brief commotion around the bed. Steve eyes had closed and his forehead was pinched tightly as another uncomfortable pang flit across his back. He couldn't entirely muffle the low moan of discomfort as he ground his fevered forehead into his pillowed arm. "Danno." He mumbled into his arm and then added unhappily. "_Damn_."

"Try to sleep." Danny whispered worriedly as the cold fingers weakly tightened in a spasm across his warmer ones.

"_My turn_." He said quietly as Steve's face slightly eased, his fingers finally loosened and his breathing fell into a slower, gentler rhythm.

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	12. Chapter 12

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Notes: On the EIGHT page of my muse-like brain dump … I decided to break this into two different chapters. This is part A.**

**Part B is defining itself and seems to require the dearly beloved 'breakfast muse'. The mean-spirited, saber-toothed plot bunny is being banned for the moment. **

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Twelve **

Unexpectedly, it was Danny who missed first by the very irate Doctor Strauss. His more natural happy, comical expression changed instantly when he saw the empty bed – the _very_ empty bed – not only missing its occupant but also stripped bare of sheets, blankets and pillows. Knowing full well that the misplaced patient hadn't actually _succumbed_, Strauss was livid. Turning on his heel he stomped back down the corridor and hesitated only briefly by Steve's partially closed door.

Round face now reddened in anger, he abruptly opened the door and witnessed what looked like an adult pajama party in the middle of Steve's room. The two spare chairs held the extra bedding and blankets, but the pillows had fallen messily to the floor. Chin and Kono each had a corner of a sheet that they were folding together. And Kono was now barefoot having kicked off her sneakers. One sneaker was under the bed and the second was on a third chair.

Chin's small computer bag was leaning haphazardly up against a wall. Coffee cups littered the window sill – some full and some empty. And Danny – his errant patient - was sitting motionless by Steve. Caught up in monitoring every breath his partner took, he never saw the doctor approach.

"Oh oh." Kono muttered as she was forced to move aside to make way for Danny's obviously agitated surgeon. Stepping smartly over the two pillows, he stood angrily over the wheelchair bound man.

Barely managing to keep his voice low, Doctor Strauss was a different person when his medical orders were thwarted.

"Do you _want_ to undo everything I just did?" Understanding that the team was worried about their leader and aware that Danny's troubled eyes were equally defiant, Strauss did his very best to be levelheaded. But the two squared off almost immediately.

"I'm not leaving." Danny hissed bluntly. But in fact, he had just momentarily freed his hand from Steve's loose grip to massage a painful knot in his own knee and just above the sutures. Growing more uncomfortable, he had been about to ask Kono to raise the leg rest on the chair when Strauss stormed in. Glancing towards Steve as he made a soft groan from a painful spasm and was restless in his sleep, Danny glowered back at his doctor.

Tight-faced, Strauss didn't answer as he simply took up the handles on the back of the chair and proceeded to kick aside obstacles on the floor as he wheeled Danny backwards out of the room. Ignoring both Chin and Kono, his brusque and unexpected maneuver didn't allow Danny to grab the wheels in time for protest.

"I said I was _not_ _leaving_ .." Danny grouched again loudly as they got into the corridor.

"You have no idea what you're risking." Strauss interrupted as soon as they had a bit more privacy. Kneeling down, he used the chair's adjustable leg rest to elevate Danny's left leg.

"The small patches I surgically implanted in your arterial wall have had no chance at all to heal. None. You would think that would be painfully obvious."

Though his tone was furious, Strauss's hands were soothing as he palpated the area above and below the wound and then skillfully checked for either skin that was too cold or too hot; and then again for the digital pulse in Danny's ankle.

Relieved that things seemed to be satisfactory, he stayed on one knee as he glared up at his defiant patient. "Bed rest. This needs to be elevated – not bent - and you need to be off your feet so soon after such a delicate surgery."

"Well we'd better find a compromise then." Danny growled in his own irritation, but he barely hid the slight uncomfortable twinge of pain around the bandaged surgical scar.

"Compromise? This is a hospital not a courthouse!" Strauss shot back as he gave him a knowing look. "You're due for meds in less than an hour. But keep in mind that you just had major surgery. You're endangering yourself by risking a nasty internal tear or blood clot. How long have you been sitting with your leg bent like this?"

By then Chin had come outside to listen to what was becoming a loud argument. Checking his watch, he answered for his friend.

"Only about twenty or thirty minutes." Worried now after hearing the doctor's last few words, Chin scrubbed at his face and looked from Steve back to Danny who was still stubbornly determined to remain. "Danny. _Brah_, this doesn't sound like such a good idea."

Coming up with an idea, he silently warned Danny to keep quiet before he could open his mouth with yet another annoyed demand; and asked the doctor if the hospital reclining chair would be suitable in the short term.

"It's _like_ a bed and we could use pillows to elevate his leg." He offered quietly as he tried to avoid a battle royal in the corridor.

"How about he gets to stay…" And Chin pointed to Danny as Strauss huffed in irritation but waited to hear him out. "… only until Steve gets his evening meds and truly falls asleep."

Peering back into the room, he watched as Kono took Danny's place by Steve and gripped his hand. Now due for his pain medication, Steve's light doze had ended and the discomfort was setting in with a vengeance. Back to rubbing his forehead on his arm from the uncomfortable pains, Steve was awake and accidentally pulled off the nasal cannula. But Kono replaced it quickly and then snagged his errant hand as a sharp pain flitted across his back.

"Pain meds are coming any minute, Steve." Kono said as she looked up worriedly towards the corridor. Briefly catching both Chin and then Danny's eye, she frowned as Steve's level of discomfort grew.

Danny hadn't missed the moment with Kono and took advantage of Strauss' hesitation. "I'll work with that." He agreed readily. "Once he's comfortable and able to sleep, I'll go back and stay in bed. Until then … wheel chair and I'll keep my leg up, or I'll camp out on that recliner. I promise not to stand, sit, walk or otherwise _move_ at all. Deal?"

"I don't make _deals_ with my patients when it concerns their welfare." Strauss scoffed. He didn't like it and his still reddened face proved just how much. But giving Danny a cautionary look, he took a half-step backwards as he reluctantly agreed.

"This is no joke Detective. The surgery has initially been successful. But let's keep it that way; it's imperative that you get your rest and allow it to heal."

Staring at Chin, the anger still hadn't left his face and he made his orders very clear and placed them firmly into Chin's lap.

"Keep that leg up and as straight as possible .. _**elevated**_ .. absolutely no unnecessary movement. Back to bed as soon as possible."

All three then moved aside as a nurse indicated her need to enter Steve's room with his pain medication. Eyes widening, her walk slowed as she felt the tension rolling off the three men and then saw the disarray in the hospital room.

"Nurse is here, Steve." Kono soothed as she glanced towards the corridor and was relieved to see the nurse excusing herself between the men. "Right on time."

Moving past Kono, the nurse was confused but remained quiet with Strauss present as she used one of the IV ports on Steve's arm to dispense the timely medication. Now checking the various readings on his monitors, she waited for some of the stress to leave his face to recheck his blood pressure.

"How is he?" Kono asked as Steve kept a painfully tight grip on her hand.

"His temperature is one hundred one – it's still up." And she noted that fact on her chart along with the time. "His blood pressure is slightly elevated but that's not too surprising. It should normalize now that the pain meds are kicking in."

Bending down, she quietly asked Steve if he wanted to finally get off his stomach and moved onto his right side. Getting an affirmative sound, she nodded.

"Good. I'll be right back with help so you won't have to do much." Smiling to Kono, she added. "He may feel up to having a very light meal in a few hours. I'll check with the attending on what may be appropriate."

Strauss had left in a disgusted mood during the short period and Chin had quietly wheeled Danny back into the room. Grabbing up the two pillows, he made sure that Danny's leg was completely straight and elevated as promised.

With a serious expression, Chin practically invaded Danny's space when he was done. In a firm voice that was reminiscent of a tough no-nonsense drill sergeant, Chin gave him his own warning.

"I didn't realize how bad this could be for you after surgery. You and I will have our own discussion if you push it."

Danny sat quietly and was almost intimidated by Chin's rough voice. Not used to being on the receiving end of Chin's stiff authority, he merely nodded in agreement.

But they were all asked to leave as the nurse and two attendants carefully helped Steve roll and get propped up onto his right side. The process took no less than twenty minutes and even with others doing the bulk of the work, Steve was left pale and in a cold sweat.

"I think I'm sorry I asked for this." He gasped out once his team was allowed to return. On his right side and now slightly elevated, he had a series of pillows bracing his back to keep all pressure off the wound. And though it was a relief to now see everyone, the change in position was dizzying and it brought back some of the nausea.

The nurse had remained in the room to recheck his vitals and was patient as he rode out the feelings. "I promise it will pass, sir."

"Give it a minute Steve." Kono added as she took up his hand and could feel that he was still quite cold. With the excuse of flicking a stray bit of dark hair, she made a face as she felt his fevered forehead and cheek. Casually, she straightened the heavier blankets over his body and was very careful to avoid any portion of his left side.

Staying just a few moments longer to once again confirm his blood pressure was normal, the nurse was satisfied and left with instructions to be paged immediately if anything should change or if the nausea didn't abate as she expected within a few minutes time.

Warily Danny watched Steve's face change as he methodically breathed through his nose to push down the wave of nausea, but he was relieved to find that it was easing. Eyes closed, some color had returned to his face as he won the brief war and the pain medication took a decent hold. Within a few minutes, he had noticeably relaxed into the deep pillows.

"Need anything?" Danny quietly asked when he recognized the subtle changes that signaled things were indeed better as Steve got used to the new position.

"Nope." Eyes still closed, he muttered the one word softly on an exhale. His body felt extremely heavy and dull as the pain medication finally did its job and he found himself automatically calming. Sleep was strongly tugging at him. But prying his unwilling eyes open, he once again found himself blearily almost eye to eye with Danny whose own face simultaneously was both concerned and questioning.

"Hey." Steve breathed out shortly and then nodded at the unspoken question. "Yeah. Better." On a third exhale, he muttered. "You?"

Smug about his brief victory over Strauss and pleased that Steve seemed to be truly more comfortable, Danny genuinely smiled. "I seem to have annoyed my newest benefactor. But yes, I'm good." He refused to acknowledge Chin as the man chuffed out a very sour sound from behind his back. But Steve had noticed and his lips quirked up into a smile.

"Oh? Can't have a tone with the doctors, Danno." Steve's eyes began to close again on their own. "Bad idea." But Steve was already comfortably asleep as his voice faded away.

Danny immediately objected as he felt Chin take up the handles to the wheelchair and they started moving out of the room.

"Too bad my friend. I heard the deal you made just now and I'm making sure that you stick to it."

Gathering up the spare bedding, Kono was well on her way back to Danny's room. Strauss' undeniable anger had done its job and they were suitably well aware of what could happen. So the cousins had him situated within minutes - leg up and properly elevated as prescribed.

Now that there was a definitive lull in the hectic activity between the two rooms, Chin also decided to take advantage of the time.

"Kono and I are going down to the cafeteria." Chin's eyes were filled with compassion but his tone remained firm and unrelenting. "No more chances." As his eyes silently flicked over to Danny's bandaged leg.

Biting back the sarcastic comment that was on the tip of his tongue, Danny thought better of it and then relented entirely. They were all tired and running on fumes. And Chin probably had the worst of all that very same day in terms of fielding questions, making decisions and juggling Governor, DEA and Joe Cano. From experience, Danny knew that sitting in a bed with his leg propped up was easy compared to what Chin had to handle on behalf of the entire Five-0 team.

So again merely nodding, Danny leaned back and let himself finally relax. He made no attempt to hide the slight twinge of pain in his leg as he closed his eyes and briefly zoned out. There was no way he could deny that sleep was also what he needed. But his eyes opened quickly when he felt a cool hand on his own forehead and cheek.

Tucking her hair back, Kono laughed at his surprised reaction. "Just checking. You got a little pale there for a minute. Get some rest."

"Thank you. But you might want to check your own feet first." Danny kiddingly sniped back. Still barefoot, Kono had forgotten and burst out laughing again.

Finally leaving for a well deserved break, the two cousins passed the same nurse that was now bringing Danny his oral antibiotic and pain medication. And then by the time they had returned, both Steve and Danny were sleeping soundly.

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	13. Chapter 13

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Notes: Goin' home time! Thank you for sticking with me on this one!**

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Thirteen**

Abiding by Doctor Strauss' orders as much as he could – and likely unable to escape Chin's combined wrath – Danny was careful and would eventually be discharged just three days later. But those same days were much rougher for Steve as he continued to fight the infection and remained stubbornly feverish.

The first change of bandages after debridement was almost brutal. Ramirez did it in Steve's own hospital room and allowed Danny to stay. Tipped once more onto his stomach, the process was relatively painless since Ramirez judiciously localized the painful area. But the dressings were blood soaked and messy and Danny had winced each time, Ramirez removed one and dropped it into the basin.

Still very much tired and lacking stamina, the ordeal had taken a lot of Steve and Danny found himself clenching his hand in sympathy. Steve's eyes had remained closed and sweat beaded on his upper lip. Inches from his face, Danny softly muttered words of encouragement and his droning litany was the only thing anchoring Steve in his miserable, fevered state.

"Almost done, babe." Danny heaved a sigh of relief when the final clean bandages were fastened with surgical tape. But he stifled a groan when Ramirez and two attendants began the painstaking task of situating Steve on his right side.

Waiting for Steve to focus on him, Danny nodded. "Ready? They're going to turn you." Screwing his eyes shut again, Steve made a face and then breathed out hard. "Yeah. Do it."

Once again pale and sweating, Steve's weakened body resented every physical movement. He was biting his lower lip and breathing hard for a few good minutes after Ramirez had left. Not speaking and only concentrating on breathing, Steve had briefly tossed his head miserably on the pillows. And Danny had felt completely useless being unable to do anything more than ride it out and offer sips of cold water.

Recovery was slow but eventually his temperature had grudgingly returned to normal and he was taking very short walks that left him incredibly tired. Unexpectedly, the team found themselves taking turns at cajoling, threatening and pleading with him to eat or drink at every opportunity. Unused to being poked, prodded, persistently ailing and mostly bedridden, Steve fluctuated between being apathetic and just plain mad.

So when Doctor Adler had visited Steve to introduce himself, he just hadn't been in the mood to discuss what he could or couldn't recall over the prior weeks. With his patient both ill tempered and uncooperative, it took extreme patience for him to form an initial assessment. Completing a manual physical exam of Steve's head, neck and upper back, Adler had only found very old cuts and scrapes and finally made a decision.

"It's admittedly been quite a while at this point and you're not exhibiting any lasting signs of brain trauma. We may not see or find anything of import with a CAT scan or MRI."

"I'm fine." Steve had grumbled and was cross as Adler pushed for just a little more information. "Haven't had a headache since that time. No nose bleeds, blackouts or double vision. Just can't remember a few days."

Adler had eventually closed his notebook. "Those symptoms would be critical to defining a larger issue like a skull fracture. I agree with you that we'll likely find limited to absolutely no proof of contusions through an MRI or CAT scan. But your memory may or may not return. It's not something you should dwell on; let things happen naturally."

The words had actually done more to soothe Steve than any other conversation up to that point in time. "So, you actually do agree?" Steve asked hesitantly. "No more tests?"

"I do agree." Adler had then made a request. "But if you do experience anything odd like vertigo for example… or even if an old memory resurfaces, please let me or someone else here know."

Relieved at the honesty, Steve had finally relaxed about the neurologist's role in his recovery. Admitting to Danny that it wasn't so bad, some of the heavy lines at eased around his face.

Though it wasn't what Danny had expected to hear – he actually had thought Adler would pull some rabbit out of hat to magically restore Steve's lost twenty-eight days – he was thankful that the news had reduced much of the tension in Steve's face.

"Good. That's good." Danny agreed reluctantly from the wheel cheer as he struggled to physically pull Steve's lunch tray over from his awkward position. Ignoring Steve's disapproving face, he lurched up to balance on his one good foot as he removed the covers from the food and then made a grand show of opening the paper napkin to shove it down the neck of Steve's flimsy hospital gown. Handing him a fork, he waved his hands wildly over the tray and thumped back down into his seat.

"Now _**eat**_ so we can get you the hell out of here!"

But two days after Danny had been released … another fact that Steve found quite aggravating .. Ramirez announced that he'd need to do a second medical irrigation focusing on the six-inch swath across Steve's back. The large majority of the wound was healing well, but the deepest portion warranted additional cleaning.

Danny had been asked to leave the room this time as Ramirez changed the dressings on Steve's back. '_Released'_ from the hospital had only meant a move to the recliner in Steve's room. Not cleared for driving or active duty, and while both Chin and Kono attended to actual Five-0 business, Danny saw no reason to do anything else. Using a cane, he was slowly gaining back muscle tone as he made laps around the floor or visited the cafeteria.

But the two were beginning to snark at each other as frustrations grew out of control. Danny's near constant _henning_ about food and Steve's frustrating indifference warred often in the small space.

As Steve picked disinterestedly at his breakfast one morning, Danny had lost his temper. "You're not going to get better unless you put some meat on that skinny frame of yours!" Danny griped as he hobbled around the room.

"Steven, you're in a vicious cycle. Get out of it." He hissed angrily. But moody and indifferent, Steve hadn't even answered and Danny had finally limped out of the room in a worried fury.

Currently, Steve was sitting on the edge of the bed as the doctor removed the dressings and evaluated the wound. He made a dissatisfied sound deep in his throat and then prodded a section near the shoulder blade. Flinching away from the touch, Steve hissed and then deflated entirely when the doctor scheduled him for irrigation that same afternoon.

"Again?" Sitting on the edge of the bed for the exam and quick re-bandaging, Steve's temperature was now normal going on more than twelve hours. Expecting to hear when he'd be released, a second round with Ramirez and his surgical instruments was unwelcome news.

Seeing the shoulders slump dejectedly, the doctor was quick to explain. "Irrigation. It's completely non-invasive and you won't even need a local anesthetic. I want to clean this section out with a syringe and encourage the healing process."

Briefly hesitating after redressing the wound, Ramirez tood in front of Steve and shoved his hands deeply into his pockets. He considered Steve's attitude against his overall progress and current vital results. Steve looked up at the doctor's inquiring face but with no real expression on his own. Evenutally Ramirez made another sound deep in his throat – one that was more like a thoughtful and a kindly _huff_ of sorts.

"What?" Steve stated blandly in a sad monotone. "What have you come up with now? Or should I ask … what else is wrong?"

"Yes." And Ramirez paused again as he judged Steve's face. "You'd need to come back in two to three days for a checkup. But _tomorrow_ …."

Letting the words hang, Steve slowly stood up from the bed where he'd been sitting. "I'd appreciate that." And a genuinely relieved smile slowly lightened his brooding features and worry lines eased.

"No work, mind you. Home. Resting. And someone will have to help you change those bandages until I see you again."

Pushing his hands deeply into his coat pockets, Ramirez virtually bounced on his toes. "Yes, definitely time."

Equally satisfied with the very fast and welcome change in Steve's expression and demeanor, the doctor nodded agreeably and then warned the newly eager face.

"You'll be released tomorrow morning. But you'd better mind my orders or the offer will be just as quickly revoked."

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	14. Chapter 14

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**NOTE: guess what? Birthday time! I guess I will eventually need to get back to the Cartel …. But that will be a fast forward of sorts. The boys have to heal and get better for THAT to happen. Until then, let's have some fun.**

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Fourteen**

"That doesn't leave us much time, but we can do it. Thank you. And please .. if you both can come too, I'm sure he'd appreciate it." Kono hung up the phone quickly in her office and groaned.

"Well, okay then. Time to pull off a miracle." Calling for Chin as she pushed away from her desk, a smile slowly spread across her face.

"Hey Chin! Ellen Ramirez just called. Steve's coming home _**to – mor - row**_."

There was a small crash in the main room as Chin dropped a box and then banged his head on the smart table. "_Oww_! What?"

Wrapping paper littered the war room floor and the smart table, along with various ribbons and bows, but Chin's stunned expression said it all as he stammered. "Tomorrow? How are we going to pull this off?"

"Kamekona. Of course. And I already had called about the cake and the bakery said they could do it again with a day's notice." Returning to her office, Kono made calls first to the bakery and arranged for direct delivery, and then placed a call to Kamekona.

"We're on for tomorrow at Steve's …` afternoon I'd say." Hesitating for a moment as the big man spoke, Kono giggled. "Yeah. We can make it fit in the driveway!"

Danny had actually come up with the idea just a little over a week ago. At least that's what he _said_. But Kono had a suspicion that he had been stewing on it for some time.

And then he hadn't actually called it _breaking and entering_, after all Danny did have a spare key. That same key was happily pushed into Kono's hand one afternoon at the hospital. But stealing _back_ the original birthday presents from the quiet house had felt like theft and re-wrapping them now at headquarters simply felt _wrong_.

"It's all for a good cause." Danny had laughed, absolutely proud of himself to have come up with the idea. "The beauty of it is that we don't even have to buy anything."

Chin liked it too and then smirked as he dryly remarked. "Yeah, _brah_. This brings **re-**gifting to a whole new level." The two had gotten a huge laugh together but Kono had been rendered speechless.

At first appalled, she threw her hands up in the air. "It's rude. You two are awful."

But she'd eventually gone along and she herself had pillaged Steve's house to collect back all the original birthday presents. Embarrassed when she found her own gift in a touching place of honor in the main room and hung high over the mantel, she couldn't bring herself to take it.

"Sorry boys. I'm drawing the line." She had said out loud in the silence with tears in her eyes.

Now, grabbing up her keys, it was now nearing four in the afternoon and she'd make other calls from the car on her way to the hospital. With Steve being released tomorrow after lunch, Danny would stay the night at his house and be able to set things up. His help would free her and Chin to actually get some work done early in the day, and then one could pick up Steve in the afternoon for the grand surprise.

While not identical to the first surprise party, it would be close and Danny's somber ulterior motives of jogging Steve's memory back into to place would be tested.

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

"Do I need to stay here to make sure you don't over-do it?" Kono threatened when she dropped Danny off at Steve's later than evening. Bringing in the various paper products from the car, she glared at him in warning.

"All you need to do is wait for the bakery to deliver the cake. It's already paid for. Kamekona will be here around Noon. He can do everything else once he gets here."

Busying herself in the kitchen, Kono laid out the paper cups, plastic wear, paper plates in various sizes and finally piles of napkins. And then she went back out for the re-wrapped gifts that had been stowed in the truck of her small red car. Leaving the various bags in the living room, she couldn't help continuing her lecture.

"Really, Danny. Everything's done." Worried now about the party being too soon for Steve to handle on his first day, Kono softened as she changed the subject. "Do you think it will exhaust him?"

Hands on her hips, Kono followed Danny as he limped back into the living room and settled himself on the sofa. Seeing something else that needed to be done, Kono didn't give him a chance to answer. Pointing at him to stay, she then ran upstairs to find spare bedding which she plunked on the chair.

"By the way. No stairs either."

"You're as bossy as your cousin." He chafed under her unyielding stare and then realized that she was finally waiting for him to say something – in fact to swear that he would do everything that she demanded.

"Yes, Kono. I heard every word that you said. And I promise that I will _**not**_ do too much."

Catching her eye, Danny smiled reassuringly. "And no, it's not too soon. Ellen would have said something. Frankly, it will lift his spirits and Kamekona probably can't wait to spoon feed every one of his special recipes onto his plate."

"Ha, that's true." Kono said with a more relaxed chuckle. When she picked up Danny from the hospital, Steve was virtually on cloud nine and hadn't even questioned them when they left together. Looking forward to his release the next day, his only concern was _who_ was going to pick him up and _when_.

In fact so sure that Steve would object, Danny had almost been offended at the cheery "_see you tomorrow_" when Kono confirmed she'd be swinging back over. He'd even practiced a few sarcastic and mouthy reasons for needing to go home that night - none of which needed to be voiced.

So now as she made sure Danny had everything within reach, Kono finished by lining up his medicines on the small table near the sofa.

"One more thing." She included before closing the front door and then knew he had heard her from the resentful groan.

"Doctor Ramirez and Ellen are also swinging by at some point. So if you do something you shouldn't … someone will make darn sure that Adler hears about it."

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

"Why is _**that**_ parked in my driveway?" Steve said in total disbelief when he saw the shrimp wagon spewing smoke into his quiet neighborhood.

Biting her tongue, Kono decided that ignorance would be best. "I really have no idea, Steve."

As she pulled in, Kamekona reached the passenger door first and panicked. Saying the first and most inane thing he could think of when he saw Steve disapproving face, he blurted out.

"Blondie wanted take-out, brah. Figured I'd deliver."

It was such a silly thing to say, that Kono had to sit in the car to wipe the smile off her face and then the tears from her eyes. But it gave time for Kamekona to lean forward and allow Steve to take his arm and figure out his own way to rock out of the car without hurting himself.

"I've got some good eats for you too. I heard and now I see that you need some proper nutrition."

"I don't believe I'm seeing this." Shaking his head, Steve's eyes were smiling as he walked past the steaming truck. "There's bound to be all types of health codes about this."

"Yeah, but I know me a few good cops .." Kamekona lisped out nonchalantly. "No worries there for me."

And Danny was standing at the front door as Steve walked up. Effectively blocking him from entering, Danny measured his mood and stamina. "Glad to be home?"

With his left arm in a sling to prevent an uncomfortable pull on the healing scar, Steve's face had good color and his eyes were twinkling. Though he was still quite gaunt, he was definitely much improved and it was undeniable that the change of scenery was already working.

Steve's mildly amused retort of, "_Yes, but take-out_?" was met with a laugh and a blunt statement of complete agreement.

"Take-out. But I didn't ask for the _**truck**_. However, we wound up with the very best."

And as Danny moved aside for him to enter, Steve found himself the guest of honor on a receiving line of well wishers and friends that extended from the front door and back out through the Lanai. At the last minute, Chin and Kono had decided that a boisterous and rousing welcome would simply prove to be too overwhelming for the recovering man.

Escorting Steve forward, Kono and Chin kept him moving steadily so that he could greet everyone but also eventually be seated comfortably on the Lanai. And Kamekona was immediately in his element as he busily made sure that Steve first, and then all his guests had plenty of food. If a few business cards were accidently tucked under a plate or two, Kamekona could only smile in his winning way and offer a plateful of steaming seconds.

Hours later, people were still milling about and Steve was opening the last of his "re-gifts"; though admittedly, many presents were new and truly never before seen.

Feeling more than guilty about Steve's enthusiastic and honest response to those that had been re-wrapped, she leaned over to Chin. "We are going to have to tell him later. This is almost sad!"

"Yup. I think that I may agree with you." Chin replied. What had started out as good fun was also making him feel guilty. And Danny's mental ploy hadn't yet worked. In fact, looking over to Danny, Chin could tell he was disappointed that everything was still so very new to their friend.

Chin spoke just under his breath. "And plan b failed. He was so sure this would work."

"Hmm." Kono replied, but she was distracted. Ramirez was currently speaking to Danny and nodding covertly towards Steve who was still talking gamely, but now listing to the side in fatigue.

"I think it's time to gracefully end this shin-dig." Getting up Kono started to spread the word and began a quiet cleanup. Chin ran gentle interference with Ramirez to ensure Steve did as little as possible as the party group broke up discreetly.

What wasn't very inconspicuous was Kamekona's brightly colored shrimp truck as it started up loudly, belched dark smoke from the exhaust, and then lumbered out of the driveway.

Wincing directly at Danny as he heard the large vehicle slowly leave, Steve shook his head again and laughed.

"What? It wasn't me!" Danny said holding his cane up in the air dramatically and then had to laugh too. "I didn't ask for Kamekona to bring the damn _**truck**_!"

Soon after, only the core Five-0 team remained in the house along with Ellen and Doctor Ramirez. A goofy smile was still plastered on Steve's face even as Ramirez sat him on the sofa. He couldn't resist checking the bandages before leaving and making sure that his patient was indeed resting for the night. And the pre-arrangement for Danny to stay was simply an understood part of the deal.

But Steve was emotional as his final small group broke and could barely find what he thought were the right words. "That was some birthday party. Mahalo."

"And you are very welcome. But sit. Before you fall over." Chin said quietly when Steve tried to get up again to say goodnight to him and to Kono. "We'll see you two sometime tomorrow."

And as Danny puttered now alone in the kitchen, Steve was more than content as he sat quietly in the silence of the house.

"_Mahalo_." He whispered again but this time to himself as he mentally toasted his close friends. He had never expected to find such family and friendship – true _Ohana_ - when he had taken Governor Jamieson up on her offer to lead the Five-0 task force. In fact, he had only done it that day almost in an anger to prove a powerful point to the brash and obnoxious Haole he had just confronted.

Leaning his head back on the sofa, he smiled at his unexpected birthday party – no it was a _homecoming_ - and then blinked a few times. Taking a deep shuddering breath Steve finally noticed what hung above his mantel. Familiar and yet not familiar at the same time; he slowly struggled back to his feet for a closer look.

"Oh my god." He whispered. Still not over the surprise of seeing Kamekona's shrimp wagon parked – _parked_ mind you – in his driveway when Kono brought him home. He'd been then dumbfounded and purposefully shuttled through the people in his house and out to the Lanai. He simply hadn't seen this particular gift until that moment.

Now he stood totally still in front of the over-sized shadow boxed football jersey that had a floppy red bow fastened to it in the upper right hand corner. _**HIS**_ 5-0 jersey from when he played quarterback at Kukui High School.

Perfectly framed and with an additional eight inches of white professional border around the four edges, a multitude of different handwritten birthday wishes in various colors and scripts had been embellished there for a lifetime.

"Kono had Mary dig out your old jersey over a year ago when she had this idea. It took her all that time to pull off. She had the white border sent separately to Mary first and then on to Catherine at the _Enterprise_." Danny softly said from the doorway.

"Cath got it back to us … Joe even stepped in .. and … _well_ .. HPD too .. and .. there you have it." Becoming emotional himself, Danny had to stop speaking as he allowed Steve to take it all in.

"This is what you meant?" Steve completely failed at holding back his tears as he whispered. "That's amazing. She's .. incredible. _Everyone signed this?_"

Danny grinned at his own memory from Steve's first original birthday party as he came forward to stand near him while he studied all the names. Something like this could never _ever_ get old and Danny wished Kono had still been there to witness the repeat. It was like an eerie version of an automatic rewind but all done in real-time.

Understanding why Kono couldn't touch it, he had asked Kamekona to at least reach up and put the gaudy red bow in one corner.

"Yeah, you said the exact same thing back then too. You and I hung it here a few days after your _**first**_ birthday party. Kono's thrilled that you love it so much."

"No kidding." Steve breathed out. "That's an understatement."

Pausing, he couldn't help grinning and then adding with a very gentle nudge into Steve's good shoulder.

"But I'm not going to throw my arms around your neck and give you a kiss."

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	15. Chapter 15

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Note: can I be happy with my breakfast muse? Please? AND MANY thanks to CinderH who got the breakfast muse kick-started. woohoo! **

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Fifteen**

Danny's cell phone rang just after nine the next morning following Steve's party. Up for at least a full hour, he had disobeyed Kono's orders twice already and used the stairs. Once the prior evening to make sure Steve had enough pillows that kept him propped on his right side and off the healing wound. And a second time just a few minutes ago to see if he was really still sleeping … which he was.

Methodically with the cane in his left hand and holding the banister with his right, he carefully made his way back down to the first floor literally doing one full step at a time. He'd also gone out to the Lanai to clean up and had filled an entire trash bag. Once he began to feel the pull of fatigue in his left thigh muscle, he had stopped to rest and put on a pot of strong coffee. His cane was now leaning up against the counter as he practically fell into the refrigerator looking for the milk. Balancing on his right leg, he was moving various left-overs and bottles until he spied it shoved deep in the back.

"Of course." He complained as he tried to reach his target.

But he stopped when he rested the phone on his shoulder and frowned when he heard the all too familiar male voice on the other side. Sighing, he stood up as he closed the door without getting the milk. Determined to stay in his pleasant mood and to not be riled by the DEA so early in the day, Danny hopped to the closest chair at the table and painfully propped his foot up on the seat of the one across from him.

"Hi Joe. And how are you this morning?"

Listening patiently, he gazed blankly at the table. "Yes, I've been released from the hospital. Going on four days. But no, I'm not back at work yet."

Pausing as he was interrupted, he frowned while drumming his fingers on the table. "Chin's your contact for the time being. He should be in the office by now."

Forcing himself to keep his voice low and level, Danny lied as he deflected the next question. "No, McGarrett's still in the hospital. Anything else about our participation is going to be up to the Governor."

"Whatever you say Joe." Danny angrily huffed as he thumbed off the phone. "God I hate him." Danny muttered as he carefully got up to once again hop over to the refrigerator to finally retrieve the milk for his coffee.

Twenty minutes later, Danny had moved to the sofa, coffee in hand to watch the news on TV. But just as he sat down, there was a brisk knock on the front door.

Struggling back to his feet, Danny hopped and limped over to the door again without his cane only to find Joe Cano and one of his associates standing on the front steps. He was momentarily speechless as he realized what had happened.

"You traced my cell phone." Danny spit out the statement in anger.

"Sure did." Cano replied briefly. Carrying a briefcase and a large map-like canister, he pushed past Danny into the house and almost knocked him off balance.

"We need to talk and I can't seem to get an audience with you. Surely you can _talk_ …yes?" He drawled sarcastically as he looked first at Danny from head to toe. "You look fine to me."

And then he rashly stepped more into the house to briefly survey the living room and peered out through the Lanai. "Nice place McGarrett has here. Ocean front?"

"Joe. You need to leave. I told you on the phone that Chin's your man. The Governor is making all other decisions about our participation." Trying to stay calm and ignoring the intentional snide remarks, Danny was holding the door knob in a white-knuckled annoyed death grip.

Cano turned and faced Danny as his associate also entered the house. Uncomfortable and new on the job, the younger man was obviously unhappy about the unplanned visit. Jittery and rocking on his toes, he stayed close to the open door and mute.

"Listen … Danny. We work well together."

And Danny couldn't help sputtering on that one. "_**Well**_ … together? Did you say that **we** work _**well**_ together?"

Putting his hand up in the air, Joe insisted on continuing. "The Cartel is reorganizing the plans for their deal. Intel estimates it to be in about two or three weeks time. I need _**you**_ and your team on this with me … with us."

For his part, Cano was doing his very best to express himself nicely. But his forced measured tone was laced with borderline pointed threats. "And don't forget – even though you've recovered McGarrett - the Governor still has a hefty stake in this too."

Danny wavered just once but then remembered Adler's warnings and Steve who was peacefully sleeping upstairs. Chin was rightly calling the shots for the team and Danny wouldn't subvert the authority. He also knew Cano well enough by now to understand the ulterior motives.

Danny forced himself to remain calm as he patronized the agent. "I appreciate that. I do." Still holding the doorknob, but now more for support as his right leg began to tire in earnest, he glanced briefly at the cane which was too far away.

"Joe. It's important that you speak to Chin until I'm cleared for duty. I honestly can't help you or either of our teams until that happens." Trying to get rid of him, Danny indicated the still open door which Cano's underling willingly retreated through.

"I've got no authority right now anyway. And you know full well that the Governor is making all major decisions."

Unpredictably, Joe managed to hold his rising temper by frowning and then surprisingly nodded in agreement. "Fine. Okay. I'll swing by your offices today. Girardi will get on the Governor's calendar." But he was unable to stop talking and Danny groaned when he started up again.

"Two or three weeks is not a long time .. we'd like to put an end to this. Obviously we still don't know _where_ yet … but we have a top three list. In fact …"

And Cano started to walk towards the kitchen and the large table to spread out the map. "… I'd like to review these plans with you before I go. One of the top three is a bunker system …"

The sounds of chairs being moved aside and paper being unrolled filled the kitchen. "Just give me five minutes …"

"I'm not saying _**no**_. No one is saying actually no." Danny replied in a low voice as he leaned more heavily on the door. Glaring at Cano's associate, he made it clear that they needed to leave.

"Joe. You aren't listening. Have Girardi review what you have with the Governor. Meet with Chin. There's plenty of time to prepare for this new rendezvous."

"Sir, we should go." Cano's associate bobbled slightly and then noticed the sweat beginning to bead on Danny's forehead. Rather than following Cano, he took a step further back outside the door. "Sir? I'll drive."

Shifting his weight slightly to ease the ache that was growing, Danny also didn't follow Cano to the kitchen and had to slightly raise his voice. The second agent then caught Danny's nervous glance towards the staircase and the second floor.

"If anyone knows the local bunker system … it's Chin. " When Joe didn't answer and all he heard was the rustling papers, Danny shook his head in disgust.

"How does this guy keep a job?" he muttered to himself. Using part of the wall for balance, Danny was now unable to conceal his anger as he started the slow trek back to the kitchen.

"_Get him out of here_." He hissed to the young DEA agent as he started moving. If Steve found the DEA in his house, there would be all kinds of hell to pay.

The agent hesitated and offered Danny his arm, but he was waved off.

"Just. Get. Him. Gone." Danny ground out each word with gritted teeth as he hobbled slowly behind. Feeling a very strong twinge of pain in his healing leg, he stopped for a moment and waited for it to pass. Having been mostly careful all morning, he was now being almost forced to do too much. But glancing upstairs a second time, he needed to get the two unwelcome men out of the house and quickly.

"I'm trying." The young agent apologized as he walked into the kitchen and tried to take charge.

"Sir, Detective Williams asked us to see Kelly." Picking up the briefcase from the floor, the agent tapped the CAD drawings that were now strewn across the kitchen table. "He's our man if he's also the expert on the system."

"Five minutes." Cano insisted as Danny then made his way into the kitchen. "Just five lousy minutes … "

"If it makes you _**leave**_ ..faster. " Danny was still gritting his teeth, but this time as more pain began to flit through the surgical site and down into his calf muscle. He could feel a stressed sweat running down his back and he desperately needed to sit.

Repeating himself, Danny could only use the doorway to hold himself up. Sitting would just allow Cano more time to stay. "Five. Then _**leave**_." But just a few scant seconds later, the too quiet shadow that came up behind him was unmistakable.

"What's going on in here?" The strong familiar tone droned directly behind Danny's shoulder and into his left ear. He smiled ruefully as he hung his head and didn't need to turn around.

Wakened by the voices, Steve had slowly made his way to the top of the stairs to listen. Confused, he was still fuzzy-headed from sleep and couldn't quite recognize the other man that was speaking with Danny. He'd made his way downstairs when the voices first got louder and then moved further into his home.

Coming up behind Danny, he was at first stunned and then irate when he saw Joe Cano and another DEA Agent standing in his kitchen with what looked like a large map or a systemic drawing of sorts.

Cano stared at Danny in disbelief when he saw Steve. "You lied to me? You said he was still in the hospital."

Danny shrugged as he leaned harder into the door frame. "Yup. And you actually traced my cell phone to find me here. Not much better Joe, is it."

There was a sharp intake of breath from behind him as Steve tried to catch up and put things together.

"That's beautiful, Cano." Steve sarcastically said as he moved carefully around Danny to stand in front of the man. "Wrap it up. Go see Chin before I even change my mind about _that_ being a possibility."

Turning, he saw that the younger DEA agent had already been trying to do that and nodded his approval. But Cano still hadn't moved as he silently asked Danny for the five minutes.

Raising his voice, Steve had to physically stop himself from roaring at the man.

"Cano? Get yourself and these plans out of here … and … _go_." The tone broached no argument and Cano finally started to make a move on rolling up the papers and shoving them back into the canister.

With nothing to say now, Cano walked around both Five-0 men and reluctantly left the house. Steve escorted them all the way to the front door, slammed it shut, and then locked it with a loud snick.

Slapping the door hard with an open palm, he turned on Danny. "What was that?" Unable to hold back, Steve was all fuming as he stalked back to the kitchen.

"Why did you let him in here?"

Tired and still trying to hide the twinges of pain in his leg, Danny remained braced up against the kitchen doorway. Feeling Steve's judgmental eyes on him, he rested his head against the wall. The pains were becoming worse and his right leg was cramping as it supported all of his weight.

"He called earlier and traced the damn cell phone. I didn't know until I'd already answered the door."

Afraid to move, Danny closed his eyes and then wiped the sweat off his face with one hand. Pointing blindly into the living room, he was quiet with his request. Steve was already angry but Danny was absolutely unable to hide his discomfort.

"Cane. Can you get it for me?"

Other than a worried grunt, there were no other words from Steve. The cane miraculously appeared in his left hand and his right elbow was strongly cupped and supported as Danny felt himself being guided and helped to the sofa. His pain medication and a glass of water soon followed as he elevated his leg and leaned tiredly back into the cushions.

During the entire time, besides not speaking, Danny also hadn't met Steve's eyes. Looking up now, he handed him the empty glass. "Thanks."

As expected, Steve was a cross between furious and - well, even more _furious_. Danny was impressed at the level of self control it was obviously taking Steve to not verbally blast him across the Island. What were unexpected were his first carefully chosen words.

"You're shaking." Steve's jaw clenched and unclenched a few times as he studied Danny's sweat-streaked face and waited for the pain medication to work. "How bad is it? Do you need to see Doctor Strauss?"

Widening his eyes at the question, which in itself was almost a threat, Danny shook his head. "No. Definitely not. I just need to sit here for awhile."

Gauging the truthfulness of the reply, Steve continued to glare at him until Danny angrily glowered back. "Steven … _enough_."

By then there was only one decision Steve felt he had to make. Pointing at Danny, he was adamant about the choice. "I don't even know where to start. Except that our team is done with this charade."

Danny heaved out a sigh as he massaged his leg with one hand. "Can't do that. It's the Governor's call with his counterpart in the Agency. There's two DEA under – _deep_ - and the risk is way too high."

He hesitated once as he absorbed all of Steve's combined anger and worry. "The DEA wants the Cartel brought down and this has always been the focus. But you never asked who the Cartel was dealing with – why they had this larger deal planned and why it was _here_, on the Island. Or why the Governor has been so involved."

"Yakuza?" Steve glanced up once at the framed 5-0 jersey as something niggled forward into the front of his brain. "I had forgotten …" He whispered. "Wo Fat's second …"

"No kidding you forgot." Danny snorted out with an apologetic grin as he rubbed his leg again and winced at the tight pull. Missing the barely audible words, he continued speaking.

"Until today, there was no reason to bring it up. Frankly, I hoped you'd remember at some point. But now that the DEA has new information and it's weeks out. I'd say that there's a very strong possibility that we'll be staying involved ... at least on some level."

And that's when Danny hesitated with a confused expression on his face. "Wait. What did you just say?"

But Steve was absorbed in Kono's framed gift and was speaking in a hollow, flat voice. "Wang Chu Lee. He's the Yakuza contact. He's Wo Fat's _second_ on this job. The DEA gets their half of the pie and we get ours."

"Steve this is great!" Beginning to beam happily, Danny was thrilled that Steve seemed to be remembering so many things from last many days he had inexplicably lost. "You're right. Definitely right about all of that."

And as another memory skittered forward, Steve stopped staring at the frame to frown down at Danny. His expression changed entirely and he was completely astonished at the _idea_ .. or … had it actually happened?

Surprised by the possibility that began to feel _right_, Steve spoke slowly and then was positive it had happened. "Did you just do … what I think you did?"

Still grinning, Danny was excited and coached Steve to verbalize the memory. "I don't know … what do you think I did?" But the smile drained from his face at Steve's next incredulous words.

"Didn't you give me that _book_ .. the one I unwrapped just last night .. _**was this really the second time**_ … at my _first_ birthday party?"

If it was possible, Danny paled even more as he sat on the sofa and then flinched guiltily as Steve's voice rose once again. "Daniel! It was even the same damned wrapping paper!"

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	16. Chapter 16

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**NOTE: Sorry, I tried to cage the Saber-toothed plot bunny. But it escaped, and then I simply couldn't help myself …**

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Sixteen**

Three weeks later, a number of things happened the **least** significant being that Five-0 and the DEA successfully teamed to disrupt the joint deal between the Yakuza and the drug cartel. Wang Chu Lee was currently being held in maximum security and the brother of the imprisoned Cartel leader had been killed in during the brief gun battle.

But the most significant thing was that Danny beat the proverbial _crap_ out of Joe Cano. It happened approximately fifteen minutes after the dust had settled down in a distant part of the bunker and arrests either had been made or body bags organized. And it took fifteen minutes because it took Danny that long to find the man _after _he and Chin got Kono safely to a medic for a bloody crease across her temple. Whether accidental or on purpose, Cano's last minute change in directions had separated Kono and one agent from the main contingent. Under fire and without proper backup, Danny, Chin and two additional HPD elite officers had finally reached their location.

Side by side with the agent, she was still firing her weapon and hitting her intended targets even though blood was streaming down her face. It took the added support of the reinforcements to defuse the situation and protect their pinned down people.

Forcing their way forward, the fire-fight had aggressively intensified inside the dark recesses of the one tunnel that was supposed to have been empty. Getting information that some of the Cartel might be escaping out the small subterranean back door, Cano had his agent Elliott and Kono divert.

Yelling into the radio over the overwhelming background noises, Cano was insistent and so they had gone ahead with the orders.

"_Shouldn't be anyone there .. just pick off any stragglers and hold them.. just in case._"

It honestly had sounded reasonable – and it had appeared to be justified. But slowly creeping into the small tunnel, Kono and Elliott had become trapped and pinned down when five drug runners were lying in wait. Out-gunned and overwhelmed, there was simply no way for an escape.

Steve had bellowed into his own radio for backup when Elliott frantically radioed about the mistake. But he was too far away and dealing with the main portion of the Yakuza contingent and under heavy fire himself. Danny and Chin had reacted instantly when they realized they were the closest and had commandeered the HPD support.

Trapping the five Cartel runners between them, bullets twanged through the air and peppered the walls. The ricochet was deafening and none were able to hear let alone answer both Cano's and Steve's demands for a report for an agonizingly long eight minutes.

Steve relaxed briefly when Chin finally could shout "_We're good. All clear!_", to the anxious man. And by then, much of the raid was winding down and in the favor of the DEA with the combined HPD and Five-0 teams.

"That was unexpected." Kono whispered wryly, as she sagged dizzily between Elliott, her cousin and Danny. Touching her head and then looking at her bloody hand, she winced. "There wasn't supposed to anyone in there."

The agent's eyes were dark with worry and his hands were shaking from the adrenalin rush. "I don't know. I don't know what just happened." Shell-shocked, Elliott kept repeating the words over and over again.

While Chin tried to keep Kono on her feet and walking out of the dark bunker, Danny had radioed for medical support. That had brought a growling Steve back on the radio waves demanding to know _who_ and how bad. Chin's initial reassurances hadn't made Steve any less worried about Kono.

"Fine. Stay with her. Where's Danny gone off to?" Chin's next explanation was hesitant and it caused Steve to pause as he knelt one-kneed on the back of the Yakuza he was cuffing. "Where?"

Cursing loudly, Steve had hauled the Yakuza up his cuffed arms and practically flung him at an HPD officer.

"Take care of this!" he yelled. Grim-faced, he was then off at a rapid jog dodging around fallen drug runners and other officers looking for either his partner or Cano .. but it was already much too late since Danny had been a man on a very urgent mission.

Blind and deaf to anything but tracking down Cano, Danny had stripped his vest off and thrown his gloves down as he stalked his new prey. And he was well into the brawl by the time Steve and other officers had intervened.

"_You son-ofa-bitch_!" Danny roared as he violently pushed two DEA agents aside and had Cano by the throat in seconds. Totally caught off guard, Cano had no time to protect himself from the first two right-handed fisted blows to his face. Hesitating only to improve his aim, Danny let two more hard punches rocket into the side of the DEA agent's head as he continued to shout obscenities. "_They .. could .. have .. been .. killed_!"

Staggering backwards, Cano nearly fell and then put both hands to his face. Blood was streaming from two ragged tears on his cheek, as well as from his nose. Staring at the bloody redness that dripped off his fingers, Cano's face visibly darkened and he attacked. Grappling and nearly evenly matched in their own fury, the two went at it viciously until Steve, Girardi and a few others were able to successfully pull their respective team-mates apart.

Leaning against Girardi, Cano was virtually done in. Bloody, beaten and dazed by hard blows to his head and chest, he was gasping through a broken nose and spitting blood. One finger roamed his own mouth to pull out part of a broken tooth. But neither team had anything to say as Girardi and another agent supported Cano between them and walked him towards a waiting ambulance.

And Steve had his hands full with Danny who was still ready to fight. Finding himself held up against Steve's chest tightly, he was in a bear hug of sorts with his arms and bruised fisted hands trapped to his sides.

"Let me go." Fists still clenched and wanting to kill the departing man, Danny growled angrily as he struggled to get free. He then paused only to shout after Cano. "We're not done yet!"

But Steve held Danny firmly as he watched Cano being dragged away and then even drop to his knees before making it to the ambulance.

"Oh, I think you are. He definitely is …" Steve had to stifle a grin. But based on the small part of Danny's face that he could see, Cano had gotten in a few good hits of his own. In fact, Steve could feel the ragged breathing as he kept Danny locked to his chest.

"Can I really let you go now?" He said with a smile in his voice as Danny panted, wheezed and finally eased up. "You done for good? Promise?"

"Yeah. M'done. .. for now." Danny coughed out with an affirmative nod. Steve kept one hand on Danny's shoulder as he stayed hunched over with his hands on both knees. Breathing hard and with bruises already standing out on his cheek and forehead, blood dripped freely from a split lip that was already swelling.

"Well I know for a fact you _**gave**_ better than you took. But geez, Danny!" Steve chuckled and failed completely at wiping the huge smile that spread across his face. But he did keep one steadying hand on Danny's left shoulder as he swayed slightly.

"You okay?"

As he nodded, Danny wiped his face with one hand and grimaced at the cut on his lip. "Kono?" He rasped out as he heaved and tried to catch his breath.

"Just a crease. Maybe a mild concussion." Steve shook his head with barely unconcealed admiration as he looked his partner up and down. "Chin's with her now."

"You're a mess." Gleefully making a show of plucking at Danny's bloody and filthy shirt that now hung sloppily out of his pants, Steve's smile slowly faded from his face. Stepping forward, he lifted up Danny's shirt and bent down slightly to see whose blood it was and then froze for only a mere fraction of a second. The bullet wound was low and on Danny's left side just above his belt line. Just below where the vest would naturally lay.

"Danny?" Steve put both hands on his shoulders to hold him up and then frantically looked around for a medic. "Danno. When did you get hit?"

"What?" Danny whispered, but he didn't have the strength to straighten from his hunched over position. Now that his own adrenalin was wearing thin, he began to feel like he had cotton in his ears. Sounds were rupturing and fluctuating around him and shaking his head did nothing to clear it. In fact, the air had started to feel thick – _too thick to breathe_ - and he was having real trouble catching his breath; and it was more than from his fight with Cano. Blinking furiously to clear his graying vision, one hand strayed up to his head as he closed his eyes.

"What?" he heard himself say again as his knees simply gave out and he barely felt Steve catch him as he collapsed.

Bellowing now for a medic, Steve was shocked by the rapid change of events as he caught Danny just in time to lay him flat out on the ground. Pulling the shirt up, he rolled Danny just a little to the side but couldn't find an exit wound.

"_Shit_." Steve said as he applied direct pressure in an attempt to stop the bleeding. His eyes were huge with worry as he hollered again for a medic and then watched Danny's face pale even more. "When did you get hit? Danny?"

Semi-conscious and coughing, Danny tried to push Steve away as the new pain washed over him. It felt like a knife in his side and he whimpered at the pressure from Steve's hands.

"Don't know .. stop." He complained weakly as two medics finally got to his side and traded places with Steve. And he moaned again as they treated the painful wound with a compression bandage.

"There's no exit wound." Steve muttered as he helplessly watched the triage. The silent nod from one medic meant that he too had noticed. Grim-faced and hurriedly trying to stabilize falling vitals, the medics got Danny quickly onto a backboard and to an ambulance for transit.

And then Steve didn't know what to do. Spinning in place and looking at the organized chaos around him, as head of Five-0 he simply couldn't opt to leave the scene. Especially now with both Chin and Kono gone to attend to her own medical needs.

But then he saw them; Chin and Kono were walking slowly towards him; he with one hand around her waist. She was a little shaky and her head was heavily bandaged.

Not yet understanding that Danny was injured, Chin smiled down at Kono and missed the expression on Steve's face.

"We have one tough cookie here. Refused medical. Says others need more help right now."

But Kono had seen the darkness and the silent frenetic worry. Looking to his hands, she noticed the blood on his clenched fists and also smeared on his dark blue shirt.

"What? What's wrong? Where's Danny?"

Following his anxious gaze to the nearby ambulance that was now getting ready to leave with lights flashing, both realized something had happened. Without asking for an explanation, Chin could see the war inside Steve.

"Go. I can manage. I'll wrap it up with HPD and Girardi. Go, Steve. But call as soon as you know something."

"Chin." Steve whispered with gratitude as the doors to the ambulance started to close. "He got hit. Didn't even know .. he just .. _collapsed_ …"

Stunned, Chin shook his head in bewilderment. "But, I was with him the entire time. He was fine. I never saw …_when_?" And then Kono was pointing towards the ambulance and the second door that was being tightly closed for transport.

"Go! We got it here boss. Go. Just go!"

Giving a quick squeeze of thanks to Chin's arm, Steve was yelling "_hold up_" and then bounding into the back of the ambulance just as it started to roll away.

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	17. Chapter 17

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Seventeen**

Two area hospitals were busy with the fallout from the joint raid – and Tripler was one of them. Doctor Ramirez was evaluating and directing those injured (or already deceased) to various trauma rooms, surgeries or moving them into a treatment queue depending upon their severity.

Tripler's own security had been called upon to assist, along with additional agents and HPD staff to ensure that the injured criminals were well guarded.

Moving around an older Cartel member that had a small crease over one eye, he huffed a sound of surprise and couldn't help the sarcasm that dripped out of his mouth.

"_**Mister**_ Cano, I see we meet under different circumstances today." Ramirez had to bend down to the agent that was seated in an available wheelchair. While the cuts to his cheek had been butterflied in the ambulance, the bruises were blossoming now across his face and neck.

He'd also been given a large ice pack that he held to the right side of his jaw. The man was clearly miserable and breathing raggedly through a small opening in his mouth.

"You don't look very good Mister Cano." Ramirez clucked, as he moved the hand with the ice pack away and extremely gently palpated his chin and jaw. "Fractured for sure, possibly even broken." Confused as to why the man looked like he'd been beaten to a pulp in a dirty bar fight, Ramirez held his tongue while he did a further cursory exam.

"Nose will need to be reset as well …."

At his words, Cano moaned in protest but was unable to reply. The pain was radiating from his jaw line and up into his already aching head and all he wanted to do was lay down. He was also mortified that he'd been taken to Tripler and now was being subjected to Ramirez.

Cano couldn't express his sheer relief when Girardi finally came briskly over to check on when he might be next for evaluation.

"He's with you, I take it." Ramirez stated to Girardi who nodded anxiously. "We'll take him right away of course." And they both heard the wet sigh of thankfulness from the injured man.

"But can you tell me what happened seeing as the large majority of wounds we're treating right now are related to actual _bullets_?'

Girardi stumbled over the words that sent the good Doctor Ramirez briskly walking away and gesturing wildly for another doctor to please take Agent Cano to trauma immediately.

Hearing only as much as "_It was Detective Williams … he …well … there was a fight .. at the scene …_"

Ramirez barely made it to his office just in time to slam the door and dissolve into peals of uncontrollable laughter. When he wiped the tears from his eyes and had finally stopped chuckling, he returned to the trauma area with only an occasional stifled giggle.

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

Danny had been rushed into the emergency room while Ramirez was getting himself under control in his own office. Another attending had him hop-scotched up and over the large majority of those most critical. So in the few short minutes, he was well on his way towards surgery.

Steve had his eyes closed as he leaned up against a small wall and away from most of the chaos. His head was resting back into the white plaster and his hands hung limply to his sides, one of which was holding a blood-stained towel. It was how Ramirez found him just a few minutes later upon rejoining his staff as the last few ambulances arrived.

"You look exhausted, Commander." The soft words from a very familiar voice catapulted Steve forward.

"Doc! I didn't know you were here." Ramirez smiled and then chuckled again with Cano on his mind.

"I just saw our friend Cano. He's quite the royal mess and I hear Detective Williams is to thank .. or to blame." Hesitating, Ramirez shrugged happily and chuffed again.

"I guess its all how you want to look at it."

But he sobered and was all business when he realized Steve wasn't smiling or even slightly interested.

"Alright. Fill me in. Who's here from your team and I'll check on their status now." And then he was shocked to hear that in fact, it was Danny and that he'd already been rushed to surgery.

"A gun shot wound?" Ramirez repeated.

Steve was miserable as he described what had happened after the fight. "He just fell .. collapsed really .. right after he beat the snot out of Cano. Danny didn't realize it and no one knew he'd been hit … until then."

Quietly Steve added in a voice that combined hope but also true worry. "He's been stable though. His vitals were good in the ambulance. It's just that the bullet's still in him ... and the fight .. it could have moved it ... if it's in a spot and _travels_ ..."

Doctor Ramirez silently assessed the calming trauma area as the last of the most critical cases were assigned and ranked. Taking Steve by the arm, he pointed and then physically guided him towards his own office area.

"Feel free to wait in my office – use the phone – do what you need to do. I'll check on Danny and keep you informed."

Steve watched as Ramirez purposefully left the area and knew he was already headed towards the surgical areas as promised. Heaving a huge sigh of relief, he made his way to the office and sat limply on the small side sofa.

Doing a mental double-take, he muttered in disbelief and felt his blood pressure rise again as he bristled in anger. "Cano? _Here_?"

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	18. Chapter 18

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**NOTES: thank you to everyone! I tried to reply to everyone who left a review or commented. I'm sorry if I missed you. But I do appreciate everything and all of the fantastic support. THANK YOU TRULY! And there will likely be an Epilogue. **

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Eighteen**

Hurried footsteps came down the hall and Steve stood from the small sofa and rubbed his sweaty hands on his pants as the sounds got much closer. Ramirez was harried as he rushed into the office with an armful of clipboards and files and Steve unconsciously grimaced when he noticed the splatterings of blood on his white coat.

"He's fine. He's fine!" Ramirez repeated hurriedly as he noisily dropped the paperwork and then leaned across the desk on his knuckles to face Steve tiredly.

"Perfectly fine."

Quirking his eyebrows, Steve cocked his head in disbelief as he eyed the doctor's blood stained clothing. "Danny? You mean Danny's fine?"

"Yes. Yes I do." Slamming one hand in triumph on his desk, his eyes twinkled as he pointed at Steve and said it again.

"He's perfectly fine and in recovery. Though, you have to explain something to me."

Confused and exasperated by the doctor's obvious delight, Steve ran his hands through his matted hair and then threw them up in the air.

"Sure. Fine. Whatever. But _you_ tell _me_ what's going on .. how can he be fine?" Steve sat down with a thump onto the sofa and rubbed his bloodshot eyes.

"Danny was shot. How can that be fine? Why are you so damned happy." The last few words came out in a worried, frustrated rush as Steve hid his face in one hand.

Ramirez came around the desk to sit on its edge and put one hand on Steve's shoulder to give him a little shake.

"Because, he was very lucky. The bullet lodged in his lower rib bone and that rib is merely cracked. Must have been a ricochet and that's what I need you to confirm for me. Could it have been?"

Pleased to be playing detective, the doctor was excited and eager for Steve to agree. "Because the velocity had to be significantly less than you'd expect and that is my only explanation for the blessed lack of damage."

Understanding why Ramirez was now so very delighted, Steve relaxed completely and nodded. It explained a lot of things and was entirely probable.

"Sure. Yes, that has to be it. Tight quarters and the bunker … a ricochet."

"Good. Good." Remarked the doctor, as he moved off the desk and then walked back around to sit. "Confirming that will also avoid a lot of unnecessary issues."

Momentarily scowling as the subject slightly jolted off course once more, Steve leaned heavily back into the too soft sofa.

"Problems? Like what?"

"Friendly fire." Ramirez explained quickly and Steve puffed out a weird surprised noise. "The bullet that was removed from Danny's rib is a nine millimeter and most likely from an approved HPD service revolver."

He paused so that Steve could catch up before adding. "Steve, it was a total and complete accident. And a ricochet."

Similarly thankful and very pleased to be able to share the good news, Ramirez enthusiastically leaned across his desk.

"Now tell me. What happened with Cano. Did Danny really break his nose … and his jaw?"

"What?" Steve asked as Ramirez switched gears on him. "What did you say?" But the doctor was only grinning from ear to ear and waiting for Steve to confirm it and he soon felt a chuckle bubbling up.

"His jaw is _broken_?"

"Hmm. And his nose. Cracked rib too. But the jaw is fractured in two places actually and he'll be wired shut for months."

Ramirez was not only pleased but proud and he was trying to be professionally correct. However, he was failing miserably as he felt another uncontrollable urge to laugh rise and he rubbed his forehead hard.

"Danny's got himself a few bumps and bruises … but all things considering, a black eye and busted lip when he already had a bullet in him? In fact, he doesn't even have to stay the night .. "

But then he just snorted and couldn't stop from that point. Giggling and wiping tears from his eyes, he added.

"… and once the anesthetic wears off … he can even go home."

The antics had Steve first watching in amazement as Ramirez dissolved into tears on his desk top. But he too was soon lost to the hysterical laughter.

"What's wrong with them?" Kono asked Chin, as they stood outside Ramirez's office. Both had rushed in just a few minutes earlier and were directed to the small room to get update on Danny.

Standing together outside the doorway, they could only watch in total confusion as the two men looked up, waved haphazardly at their friends and once again burst out laughing.

_**~ End ~**_


	19. EPILOGUE

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**EPILOGUE - Amnesia**

___**RECAP: **_Studying her face, Steve was still intrigued by the idea of a bet and Kono's sparkling eyes matched his own. Shrugging, he repeated what he'd said. "I bet that I am. Dinner for everyone's on me at the steak house IF Danny's back in the office and cleared for duty before I am. And dinner's on you if I'm cleared first."

_"Cleared for duty and in the office?" Kono said specifically to make sure the details were clear. Hesitating since she knew better, she shrugged as she shook her head and then agreed. __"Okay. You're on boss. Definitely on. But get ready to pay up!"_

**H5O* H5O***

"This is fantastic." Danny remarked in glee as he rubbed his hands together expectantly while he read the restaurant's menu board of elaborate Friday night specials. The team was at the most expensive steak house on the island compliments of Steve McGarrett having lost a particular bet with Kono Kalakaua.

At first taken aback about why the bet was made, Danny realized that they'd all _**won**_ thanks to Kono's quick thinking and Steve's own brand of obstinacy. And now Danny couldn't help the snarky tone in his voice as he pulled out the wine list and selected a pricey bottle for the table. "Thank you Steven."

But Chin couldn't help laughing as Kono snagged the wine list from Danny's hand before he had a chance to order it. "Give me that. What do you know about wine?"

Sputtering indignantly, Danny neatly grabbed it back and waved in her face. "Quite a good deal actually … sit back and watch the master …"

Because of healing bodies and the second mission with the DEA, dinner had been delayed but Steve grinned good-naturedly and took it all in stride. Kono had been right about Steve's first officially approved back to work day. Danny had been in the office on desk duty for three full days before Steve himself had been allowed to consider even a half-day based on doctor's orders and his tender healing wounds.

She had kiddingly reminded him about the bet a few days after the second raid and he'd made reservations at the restaurant immediately.

"We don't have to, you know." Kono smiled as he picked up the phone to call for that Friday evening. But Steve had waved her off happily. "A bet is a bet. And you were absolutely right!"

So now on a beautiful Hawaiian Friday night, they all sat together completely relaxed. But with Kono and Danny in an all out banter over the wine list and who would be ordering what based on their individual vinifera expertise.

Over their slowly rising voices, Chin caught Steve'e eye and smirked.

"You know, I don't know why they're even arguing. They're only going to wind up ordering Longboards anyway!"

**H5O* H5O***

_**RECAP: **_"_Now tell me. What happened with Cano. Did Danny really break his nose … and his jaw?"_

"_What?" Steve asked as Ramirez switched gears on him. "What did you say?" But the doctor was only grinning from ear to ear and waiting for Steve to confirm it and he soon felt a chuckle bubbling up. _

"_His jaw is broken?"_

"_Hmm. And his nose. Cracked rib too. But the jaw is fractured in two places actually and he'll be wired shut for months."_

**H5O* H5O***

Without telling anyone and before the team dinner, Danny had waited two days to return to Tripler Medical. He went alone and quietly flashed his badge as he asked at the front desk if he could visit with DEA Agent Joe Cano. Even though he detested the man, Danny felt obligated to pay him a visit in order to apologize and try to clear the air professionally. He had seriously toyed with not going … with doing _nothing_ … but the better part of him made Danny do the right thing even though Cano deserved absolutely nothing at all.

Cano was alone and seemed to be sleeping when Danny reached his room and he wavered briefly in the doorway with a mundane get well card and a handful of magazines that he thought the man might like to thumb through. Rather than disturb him, Danny walked in and made room on the small elevated tray for his peace offerings.

Before leaving, he studied the man's face and outwardly grimaced at the damage he'd done. Eyes blackened and nose taped, the worst of it was the wired jaw which Danny couldn't believe was also his responsibility. The swelling across the man's face extended back towards his cheekbones and neck. It was grotesque, no doubt very painful and Danny was shocked at the after-effects of their altercation.

Sighing almost inaudibly, Danny felt a churning in his gut and was sickened by what he saw. "_I can't believe I did that_." Cano was hurting from a variety of painful injuries and would likely be on leave for months in order to heal.

Feeling the deeply worried gaze and hearing barely whispered sounds, Joe slowly opened his eyes and couldn't hide his startled expression at seeing Danny Williams standing over his hospital bed. Danny raised his hand in an honest apology and voiced a few awkward words.

"I brought a card." Danny started lamely. "A few magazines. Hey. I'm really sorry this went so far. Very sorry actually." He waited knowing that Joe might not respond but he tried to read the weary black eyes and tense body posture.

"Do you need anything? I don't want to overstay my welcome .. I could get the nurse though .. if you need anything." Danny vainly tried to read the now schooled blank expression and became more uncomfortable by the minute. Not getting a response of any kind, he sighed and rubbed his hands over his face.

"Well listen. I just wanted to apologize. So Joe, if you need something.. anything .. let me know. Please." Hesitating for a fraction, Danny moved the elevated tray closer so Cano would be able to reach the card or the magazines.

Glancing once more at the unreadable face, Danny slowly left the room and then the hospital.

And he missed two major things: Joe Cano's angrily seething expression that was now filled with undisguised hatred as he casually flipped the bird at Danny's retreating back; and then his reaching up with shaking hands to violently rip the get well card into a thousand miniscule pieces.

_**~ End ~**_


End file.
